الفهرس 
Pesticides overviewOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Pesticides are a group of chemicals used to eliminate or control a variety of agricultural pests that can damage crops. Although pesticides can save farmers money, the large numbers of different types reach the environment’s various components: air, water, and soil. Furthermore, pesticide exposure can have a wide range of negative health effects, from simple skin and eye irritation to more serious effects such as affecting the nervous system, mimicking hormones, causing reproductive problems, and even leading to cancer.
OPs represent an important group of pesticides extensively in use. They can easily cross the respiratory epithelial and dermal membranes. The gastric mucosa is also highly permeable to organophosphorouss and is a common route of absorption in suicidal patients. Organophosphorous compounds are distributed throughout the whole body, particularly in fatty tissue, yet their fast degradation usually inhibits their accumulation. Even though OPs have limited persistence in the environment, they are highly toxic for humans and are responsible for most of accidental intoxications.
Health hazards may result from prolonged exposure to OPs. Occupational exposure to OPs may cause immunotoxicity, cardiovascular, neurological, reproductive and carcinogenic disorders. These adverse effects are either due to inhibition of the cholinesterase enzyme (with the subsequent accumulation of acetylcholine (ACh) in the nervous terminations, provoking an overstimulation of muscarinic acetylcholine (mAChR) and nicotinic
acetylcholine (nAChR) receptors), or induction of oxidative stress (that could lead to an increase in lipid peroxidation and a decrease in total antioxidant capacity) and a toxic effect on the immune system. Immunotoxicity leads to a disturbance in the secretion of cytokines, which are a category of signaling molecules (proteins) that mediate and regulate immunity, inflammation and hematopoiesis. Disturbance in the balance between pro-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-6, TNF-α) and anti-inflammatory (e.g. IL-4, IL-10) cytokines causes adverse health effects. This study was conducted on 49 pesticide exposed workers and 51 unexposed controls.
All participants were interviewed and clinically examined using an administrator’s questionnaire. In addition, laboratory investigations were performed to detect the inhibition of AChE and BuChE as biomarkers for pesticide exposure. The oxidative stress status was evaluated by malondialdehyde (MDA) assessment, while total antioxidant capacity (TAC) could be an indicator of the antioxidant mechanism .The investigators used Interleukin –6 (IL-6) and Interferon- gamma (IFN-γ) as immune biomarkers, as well as Tumor Necrosis factor – Alpha (TNF-α) as a biomarker of cellular immune function.
The results of the present work showed a significant decrease in AChE, BuChE, and TAC levels, while there was a significant elevation in MDA in occupationally exposed researchers compared to the control group. Moreover, IL-6, IFN –γ, and TNF-α levels have been increased in exposed researchers. Neurological disorders and bronchial asthma are the most common symptoms as a result of occupational exposure to OPs. Bronchial asthma was significantly associated with MDA, IL 6, and TNF-α. Also, muscular weakness was significantly related to the decline in AChE and BuChE levels. In addition, MDA, IL-6, IFN-γ, and TNF-α, were significantly higher in
numbness. This study also revealed that MDA, IL-6, and TNF-α levels were significantly increased in exposed researchers who were not wearing a mask. from this study, we conclude that prolonged exposure to OPs leads to consumption of antioxidant mechanisms and disturbance in inflammatory cytokines, especially IL-6 and IFN-γ levels. There was also a significant link between cytokine disruption and oxidative stress. Nervous and respiratory systems are commonly affected by prolonged exposure to OPs. In addition, the use of PPE represented a risk factor for adverse health hazards in workers chronically exposed to OPs.