Cholinesterase activity in blood and pesticide presence in sweat as biomarkers of children`s environmental exposure to crop protection chemicals
Journal Title: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine - Year 2015, Vol 22, Issue 3
Abstract
Introduction. On the contrary to the adult population exposed to pesticides, mostly on occupational basis, rural children are mostly exposed to pesticides deposited in the environment. However, even this constant, distributed in time exposure to low concentrations of pesticides may led to permanent health disorders and limit children’s harmonious development. Objective. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of aacetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) activity determination as a marker of children’s environmental exposure to pesticides. An additional aim was to evaluate the usefulness of sweat patches as a novel, non-invasive method of detection of pesticides in sweat as a measure of pesticide exposure. Materials and method. A total of 108 children living in areas of intense pesticide use, and as a control group, 92 children living in an agro-tourist area were enrolled in the study. The AChE and BuChE activity was assayed colorimetricaly in diluted whole blood or plasma, respectively. In addition, selected pesticides were measured by GC/MS analysis in samples of the subject’s sweat absorbed onto a sorbent. Results. The study demonstrated significantly lower AChE and BuChE activity, respectively, in the diluted whole blood and plasma of children exposed to pesticides, compared to the control group (p<0.001 and p=0.003, respectively). The measured mean level of AChE activity was 241.63 ± 26.76 and 348.0±46.95 mU/µmolHb in the exposed and the control group, respectively, whereas the mean activity of BuChE was 424.1±81.1 and 458.6 ± 86.5 mmol/L/min. In addition, pesticide metabolites were detected in 19 (17.6%) sweat samples collected from exposed children. Conclusions. Altogether, the study indicated that cholinesterase activity is a sensitive marker of the children’s environmental exposure to pesticides, whereas sweat patches are useful devices for collecting samples to be analysed for the presence of the pesticides.
Authors and Affiliations
Lucyna Kapka-Skrzypczak, Krzysztof Sawicki, Magdalena Czajka, Waldemar Turski, Marcin Kruszewski
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP80998
- DOI -
- Views 109
- Downloads 0
Reactivation of BKV and AdV infections during post-transplant immunosuppressive therapy
Introduction. Viral infections are an important problem in transplantology. Infections in recipients may develop as a result of the original infection or reactivation of a latent infection. Many viruses have the ability...
Human dirofilariosis in the Slovak Republic - a case report.
The spread of dirofilariosis, as a newly emerging zoonosis, due to global changes has been documented in several Central European countries. In Slovakia, the first autochthonous case of dirofilariosis was recorded in dog...
Dysfunctions associated with dementia and their treatment
[u]International UnderstAID project shows[/u] the role of physiotherapist in patients with dementia as divided into two branches: helping to resolve the physical problems and solving the problems related to dementia. The...
Prevalence of contact allergy in children suffering from atopic dermatitis, seborrhoeic dermatitis and in healthy controls
Introduction: Atopic dermatitis is one of the most common skin disorders in children. There is only scarce literature data on the prevalence of contact allergy in children with atopic dermatitis.Objectives: To assess the...
Fungi on wheat bran and their toxinogenity.
To survey the overall fungal contamination and toxicological potential of isolated fungi, a mycological investigation of 56 samples of wheat bran was carried out during March-June 2004 in Slovakia. Despite of low values...