Anwar W A
Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Environ Health Perspect. 1997 Jun;105 Suppl 4(Suppl 4):801-6. doi: 10.1289/ehp.97105s4801.
For centuries, several hundred pesticides have been used to control insects. These pesticides differ greatly in their mode of action, uptake by the body, metabolism, elimination from the body, and toxicity to humans. Potential exposure from the environment can be estimated by environmental monitoring. Actual exposure (uptake) is measured by the biological monitoring of human tissues and body fluids. Biomarkers are used to detect the effects of pesticides before adverse clinical health effects occur. Pesticides and their metabolites are measured in biological samples, serum, fat, urine, blood, or breast milk by the usual analytical techniques. Biochemical responses to environmental chemicals provide a measure of toxic effect. A widely used biochemical biomarker, cholinesterase depression, measures exposure to organophosphorus insecticides. Techniques that measure DNA damage (e.g., detection of DNA adducts) provide a powerful tool in measuring environmental effects. Adducts to hemoglobin have been detected with several pesticides. Determination of chromosomal aberration rates in cultured lymphocytes is an established method of monitoring populations occupationally or environmentally exposed to known or suspected mutagenic-carcinogenic agents. There are several studies on the cytogenetic effects of work with pesticide formulations. The majority of these studies report increases in the frequency of chromosomal aberrations and/or sister chromatid exchanges among the exposed workers. Biomarkers will have a major impact on the study of environmental risk factors. The basic aim of scientists exploring these issues is to determine the nature and consequences of genetic change or variation, with the ultimate purpose of predicting or preventing disease.
几个世纪以来，已有数百种杀虫剂被用于控制害虫。这些杀虫剂在作用方式、人体吸收、新陈代谢、排出体外以及对人类的毒性等方面存在很大差异。通过环境监测可以估算出环境中的潜在暴露量。实际暴露（摄入量）则通过对人体组织和体液的生物监测来测量。生物标志物用于在临床健康出现不良影响之前检测杀虫剂的作用。通常采用分析技术对生物样本、血清、脂肪、尿液、血液或母乳中的杀虫剂及其代谢物进行测量。对环境化学物质的生化反应可衡量毒性作用。一种广泛使用的生化生物标志物——胆碱酯酶抑制，可用于测量有机磷杀虫剂的暴露情况。测量DNA损伤的技术（如检测DNA加合物）为衡量环境影响提供了有力工具。已检测到几种杀虫剂与血红蛋白形成加合物。测定培养淋巴细胞中的染色体畸变率是监测职业或环境中接触已知或疑似诱变致癌剂人群的既定方法。关于农药制剂工作的细胞遗传学效应已有多项研究。这些研究中的大多数报告称，接触农药的工人染色体畸变频率和/或姐妹染色单体交换频率增加。生物标志物将对环境风险因素的研究产生重大影响。探索这些问题的科学家的基本目标是确定基因变化或变异的性质和后果，最终目的是预测或预防疾病。
