Rothlein Joan, Rohlman Diane, Lasarev Michael, Phillips Jackie, Muniz Juan, McCauley Linda
Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2006 May;114(5):691-6. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8182.
Our understanding of the health risks of farmworkers exposed to pesticides in their work and home environments is rapidly increasing, although studies designed to examine the possible neurobehavioral effects of low-level chronic pesticide exposure are limited. We measured dialkyl phosphate urinary metabolite levels, collected environmental dust samples from a subset of homes, obtained information on work practices, and conducted neurobehavioral tests on a sample of farmworkers in Oregon. Significant correlations between urinary methyl metabolite levels and total methyl organophosphate (azinphos-methyl, phosmet, malathion) house dust levels were observed. We found the neurobehavioral performance of Hispanic immigrant farmworkers to be lower than that observed in a nonagricultural Hispanic immigrant population, and within the sample of agricultural workers there was a positive correlation between urinary organophosphate metabolite levels and poorer performance on some neurobehavioral tests. These findings add to an increasing body of evidence of the association between low levels of pesticide exposure and deficits in neurobehavioral performance.
我们对在工作和家庭环境中接触杀虫剂的农场工人所面临的健康风险的认识正在迅速提高，尽管旨在研究低水平慢性杀虫剂接触可能产生的神经行为影响的研究有限。我们测量了二烷基磷酸酯尿代谢物水平，从一部分家庭中收集了环境灰尘样本，获取了工作实践信息，并对俄勒冈州的一组农场工人进行了神经行为测试。观察到尿甲基代谢物水平与总甲基有机磷酸酯（谷硫磷、亚胺硫磷、马拉硫磷）房屋灰尘水平之间存在显著相关性。我们发现，西班牙裔移民农场工人的神经行为表现低于非农业西班牙裔移民人群，并且在农业工人样本中，尿有机磷酸酯代谢物水平与某些神经行为测试中的较差表现之间存在正相关。这些发现进一步证明了低水平杀虫剂接触与神经行为表现缺陷之间的关联，相关证据越来越多。
