Organophospahte Pesticide Mixture Exposure: The Relationship With The Motor Coordination Of Children From Paddy Farming Area In Tanjung Karang, Malaysia

Paddy cultivation is one of the widely planted crop in Malaysia. The growth of agricultural activity leads to the use of Organophosphate pesticide to protect the crop. This study is to determine the relationshi p between the levels of blood cholinesterase with the performance of motor coordination of children living in paddy farming area in Tanjung Karang, Selangor. This cross sectional study was conducted among 683 children from four schools in an agricultural area. Majority of the children have at a family member worked as farmer and was involved with pesticides. A set of questionnaire on the was given to the children to be filled by t heir parents. To measure their exposure to pesticide, blood cholinesterase levels were measured. Blood samples were taken through finger prick technique and were then analysed using LOVIBOND 412870 AF287. The children were administered with motor - coordina tion performance test using WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery and McCarthy Learning Ability Scale. Young group children (6 - 85 years) showed a mean score of 56.66 in motor - coordination test while older group children (10 - 11)= years) scored a mean of 45 .37. There was a significant relationship between blood cholinesterase level and motor coordination performance among the young - group children (r=0.215, p<0.001) and the older - group children (r=0.106, p=0.049). Based on the Linear Regression test results, total household income of family, and mode of transport used were found to have significant relationship with blood cholinesterase level of children in both groups. In addition, blood cholinesterase level and mothers’ occupation were found to have signific ant relationship with the motor - coordination performance of all children.

Organophospahte Pesticide Mixture Exposure: The Relationship With The Motor Coordination Of Children From Paddy Farming Area In Tanjung Karang, Malaysia

@#Paddy cultivation is one of the widely planted crop in Malaysia. The growth of agricultural activity leads to the use of Organophosphate pesticide to protect the crop. This study is to determine the relationship between the levels of blood cholinesterase with the performance of motor coordination of children living in paddy farming area in Tanjung Karang, Selangor. This cross sectional study was conducted among 683 children from four schools in an agricultural area. Majority of the children have at a family member worked as farmer and was involved with pesticides. A set of questionnaire on the was given to the children to be filled by their parents. To measure their exposure to pesticide, blood cholinesterase levels were measured. Blood samples were taken through finger prick technique and were then analysed using LOVIBOND 412870 AF287. The children were administered with motor-coordination performance test using WHO Neurobehavioral Core Test Battery and McCarthy Learning Ability Scale. Young group children (6-85 years) showed a mean score of 56.66 in motor-coordination test while older group children (10-11)= years) scored a mean of 45.37. There was a significant relationship between blood cholinesterase level and motor coordination performance among the young-group children (r=0.215, p<0.001) and the older-group children (r=0.106, p=0.049). Based on the Linear Regression test results, total household income of family, and mode of transport used were found to have significant relationship with blood cholinesterase level of children in both groups. In addition, blood cholinesterase level and mothers’ occupation were found to have significant relationship with the motor-coordination performance of all children.

Blood Cholinesterase Level and Learning Ability of Primary School Children in an Agricultural Village, Tanjung Karang, Malaysia.

Objective: The widespread use of organophosphate (OP) insecticides in paddy fields has led to human exposure. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between blood cholinesterase concentrations with the children’s learning ability in the agricultural village of Tanjung Karang, Selangor. Methods: Seventy-seven primary school children who live less than approximately 1km from paddy fields were selected as the exposed group, while another 62 primary schoolchildren who live more than 1 km away from the agriculture site served as the unexposed group. The questionnaires were completed by the parents. The children’s capillary blood was collected using the finger prick technique to determine the blood cholinesterase concentrations using a cholinesterase test kit (Lovibond, AF267, Tintometer Ltd., UK). The McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities (MSCA) were used to determine the learning ability of these children. Results: There were significant differences (p<0.05) in blood cholinesterase and all scales in the MSCA between the exposed and the unexposed group. There were significant associations between the blood cholinesterase concentrations and learning ability by all scales in the MSCA (p<0.05). The variable that significantly influenced the blood cholinesterase was gender (p=0.008). Blood cholinesterase was the most significant influencing factor on the learning ability, especially on the motor scale (p=0.002). Conclusion: Blood cholinesterase concentrations were significantly higher and had a significant relationship with the learning ability of the exposed group, especially the motor performance.

Study of the correlation between blood cholinesterases activity, urinary dialkyl phosphates, and the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in rats exposed to disulfoton

Organophosphates (OPs) are widely used as pesticides, and its urinary metabolites as well as the blood cholinesterases (ChEs) activity have been reported as possible biomarkers for the assessment of this pesticide exposure. Moreover, the OPs can induce mutagenesis, and the bone marrow micronucleus test is an efficient way to assess this chromosomal damage. This paper reports a study carried out to verify the correlation among the disulfoton exposure, blood ChEs activity, urinary diethyl thiophosphate (DETP), and diethyl dithiophosphate (DEDTP), as well as micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MNPCEs) frequency. Four groups of rats (n=12) were exposed to disulfoton at 0, 2.8, 4.7, and 6.6 mg kg-1 body weight. The blood ChEs activity, urinary DETP and DEDTP concentrations, and MNPCEs frequency were determined. It was observed that the plasmatic and erythrocytary ChEs activity decreased from 2.9% to 0.5% and from 35.9 to 3.3%, respectively, when the disulfoton dose was increased from 0 to 6.6 mg kg-1 (correlation of 0.99). Urinary DETP and DEDTP concentrations, as well as the MNPCEs frequency, increased from 0 to 6.58 µg mL-1, from 0 to 0.04 µg mL-1, and from 0 to 1.4%, respectively, when the disulfoton dose was increased from 0 to 6.58 mg kg-1 body weight.

Os organofosforados (OPs) são amplamente usados como praguicidas e a atividade da colinesterase sanguínea bem como os metabólitos urinários desses praguicidas têm sido reportados como biomarcadores eficazes para avaliar casos de exposição. Além disso, os OPs podem induzir mutagênese e o teste de micronúcleo de medula óssea é uma boa alternativa para avaliar os danos cromossômicos. Esse artigo reporta um estudo sobre a correlação entre a exposição a dissulfoton, a atividade da colinesterase sanguínea, a excreção urinária de dietil tiofosfato e dietil ditiofosfato e a frequência de micronúcleos em eritrócitos policromáticos. Quatro grupos de ratos (n=12) foram expostos a dissulfotom nas doses de 0, 2,8, 4,7, e 6,6 mg kg-1 de peso corpóreo. A atividade da colinesterase sanguínea as concentrações urinárias de dietil tiofosfato e dietil ditiofosfato e a frequência de micronúcleos foram determinadas. Os resultados demonstraram que as atividades da colinesterase plasmática e eritrocitária diminuíram de 2,9 para 0,5% e de 35,9 para 3,3% , respectivamente, quando a dose de dissulfoton foi aumentada de 0 para 6,6 mg kg-1 (correlação de 0,99). As concentrações urinárias de dietil tiofosfato e dietil ditiofosfato bem como a frequência de micronúcleos aumentaram de 0 a 6,56 µg mL-1, 0 a 0.04 µg mL-1 e de 0 a 1.4%, respectivamente, quando a dose de dissulfotom foi aumentada de 0 a 6,58 mg kg-1.