Insecticide toxic effects and blood biochemical alterations in occupationally exposed individuals in Punjab, Pakistan

Khizar Hayat; Muhammad Afzal; Muhammad Anjum Aqueel; Sajjad Ali; Muhammad Farhan Saeed; Ahmad Kaleem Qureshi; Muhammad Irfan Ullah; Qaiser M. Khan; Muhammad Tayyib Naseem; Umair Ashfaq; Christos A. Damalas

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175

Insecticide toxic effects and blood biochemical alterations in occupationally exposed individuals in Punjab, Pakistan

Khizar Hayat^*, Muhammad Afzal, Muhammad Anjum Aqueel, Sajjad Ali, Muhammad Farhan Saeed, Ahmad Kaleem Qureshi, Muhammad Irfan Ullah, Qaiser M. Khan, Muhammad Tayyib Naseem, Umair Ashfaq, Christos A. Damalas

^*Corresponding author for this work

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Biomonitoring of people exposed to hazardous materials provides opportunities for early identification of several diseases, particularly in those individuals who are constantly exposed to pesticides, such as pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry. However, data on this hot topic are limited in Pakistan. In this study, insecticide toxic effects and biochemical alterations (i.e., damage in DNA and enzyme activity) were studied in blood samples of occupationally exposed individuals from Punjab, Pakistan. Eight out of twenty-seven blood samples (29.6%) of the pesticide operators were found positive in five insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for chlorpyrifos-methyl (0.039 μg/mL). Eleven out of twenty-seven blood samples (40.7%) of the pesticide industry workers were found positive in eight insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for endosulfan (0.051 μg/mL). Comet tail length was 16.88 ± 4.57 μm in pesticide industry workers and 16.33 ± 3.78 μm in pesticide operators, which were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that recorded in the control group (4.84 ± 2.21 μm). Values of serum cholinesterase (SChE) concentration were slightly lower (P > 0.05) in exposed individuals, whereas values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in exposed individuals compared with control group. Exposure duration and total insecticide concentration in blood samples were positively associated with comet tail length, ALT activity, AST activity, and ALP activity, but negatively with SChE. DNA damage was higher in smokers vs. non-smokers. Also, a positive association was found between comet tail length and number of cigarettes per day. Overall, occupational exposure to insecticides can pose serious health risks to pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry, highlighting the necessity of personal protection in those groups for preventing exposure and resultant health disorders.

Original language	English
Journal	Science of the Total Environment
Volume	655
Pages (from-to)	102-111
Number of pages	10
ISSN	0048-9697
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175
Publication status	Published - 2019
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

DNA damage
Enzyme activity
Occupational safety
Pesticide exposure

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Hayat, K., Afzal, M., Aqueel, M. A., Ali, S., Saeed, M. F., Qureshi, A. K., Ullah, M. I., Khan, Q. M., Naseem, M. T., Ashfaq, U., & Damalas, C. A. (2019). Insecticide toxic effects and blood biochemical alterations in occupationally exposed individuals in Punjab, Pakistan. Science of the Total Environment, 655, 102-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175

Hayat, K, Afzal, M, Aqueel, MA, Ali, S, Saeed, MF, Qureshi, AK, Ullah, MI, Khan, QM, Naseem, MT, Ashfaq, U & Damalas, CA 2019, 'Insecticide toxic effects and blood biochemical alterations in occupationally exposed individuals in Punjab, Pakistan', Science of the Total Environment, vol. 655, pp. 102-111. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175

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title = "Insecticide toxic effects and blood biochemical alterations in occupationally exposed individuals in Punjab, Pakistan",

abstract = "Biomonitoring of people exposed to hazardous materials provides opportunities for early identification of several diseases, particularly in those individuals who are constantly exposed to pesticides, such as pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry. However, data on this hot topic are limited in Pakistan. In this study, insecticide toxic effects and biochemical alterations (i.e., damage in DNA and enzyme activity) were studied in blood samples of occupationally exposed individuals from Punjab, Pakistan. Eight out of twenty-seven blood samples (29.6%) of the pesticide operators were found positive in five insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for chlorpyrifos-methyl (0.039 μg/mL). Eleven out of twenty-seven blood samples (40.7%) of the pesticide industry workers were found positive in eight insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for endosulfan (0.051 μg/mL). Comet tail length was 16.88 ± 4.57 μm in pesticide industry workers and 16.33 ± 3.78 μm in pesticide operators, which were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that recorded in the control group (4.84 ± 2.21 μm). Values of serum cholinesterase (SChE) concentration were slightly lower (P > 0.05) in exposed individuals, whereas values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in exposed individuals compared with control group. Exposure duration and total insecticide concentration in blood samples were positively associated with comet tail length, ALT activity, AST activity, and ALP activity, but negatively with SChE. DNA damage was higher in smokers vs. non-smokers. Also, a positive association was found between comet tail length and number of cigarettes per day. Overall, occupational exposure to insecticides can pose serious health risks to pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry, highlighting the necessity of personal protection in those groups for preventing exposure and resultant health disorders.",

keywords = "DNA damage, Enzyme activity, Occupational safety, Pesticide exposure",

author = "Khizar Hayat and Muhammad Afzal and Aqueel, {Muhammad Anjum} and Sajjad Ali and Saeed, {Muhammad Farhan} and Qureshi, {Ahmad Kaleem} and Ullah, {Muhammad Irfan} and Khan, {Qaiser M.} and Naseem, {Muhammad Tayyib} and Umair Ashfaq and Damalas, {Christos A.}",

year = "2019",

doi = "10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175",

language = "English",

volume = "655",

pages = "102--111",

journal = "Science of the Total Environment",

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T1 - Insecticide toxic effects and blood biochemical alterations in occupationally exposed individuals in Punjab, Pakistan

AU - Hayat, Khizar

AU - Afzal, Muhammad

AU - Aqueel, Muhammad Anjum

AU - Ali, Sajjad

AU - Saeed, Muhammad Farhan

AU - Qureshi, Ahmad Kaleem

AU - Ullah, Muhammad Irfan

AU - Khan, Qaiser M.

AU - Naseem, Muhammad Tayyib

AU - Ashfaq, Umair

AU - Damalas, Christos A.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Biomonitoring of people exposed to hazardous materials provides opportunities for early identification of several diseases, particularly in those individuals who are constantly exposed to pesticides, such as pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry. However, data on this hot topic are limited in Pakistan. In this study, insecticide toxic effects and biochemical alterations (i.e., damage in DNA and enzyme activity) were studied in blood samples of occupationally exposed individuals from Punjab, Pakistan. Eight out of twenty-seven blood samples (29.6%) of the pesticide operators were found positive in five insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for chlorpyrifos-methyl (0.039 μg/mL). Eleven out of twenty-seven blood samples (40.7%) of the pesticide industry workers were found positive in eight insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for endosulfan (0.051 μg/mL). Comet tail length was 16.88 ± 4.57 μm in pesticide industry workers and 16.33 ± 3.78 μm in pesticide operators, which were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that recorded in the control group (4.84 ± 2.21 μm). Values of serum cholinesterase (SChE) concentration were slightly lower (P > 0.05) in exposed individuals, whereas values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in exposed individuals compared with control group. Exposure duration and total insecticide concentration in blood samples were positively associated with comet tail length, ALT activity, AST activity, and ALP activity, but negatively with SChE. DNA damage was higher in smokers vs. non-smokers. Also, a positive association was found between comet tail length and number of cigarettes per day. Overall, occupational exposure to insecticides can pose serious health risks to pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry, highlighting the necessity of personal protection in those groups for preventing exposure and resultant health disorders.

AB - Biomonitoring of people exposed to hazardous materials provides opportunities for early identification of several diseases, particularly in those individuals who are constantly exposed to pesticides, such as pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry. However, data on this hot topic are limited in Pakistan. In this study, insecticide toxic effects and biochemical alterations (i.e., damage in DNA and enzyme activity) were studied in blood samples of occupationally exposed individuals from Punjab, Pakistan. Eight out of twenty-seven blood samples (29.6%) of the pesticide operators were found positive in five insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for chlorpyrifos-methyl (0.039 μg/mL). Eleven out of twenty-seven blood samples (40.7%) of the pesticide industry workers were found positive in eight insecticides, with the maximum concentration found for endosulfan (0.051 μg/mL). Comet tail length was 16.88 ± 4.57 μm in pesticide industry workers and 16.33 ± 3.78 μm in pesticide operators, which were significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that recorded in the control group (4.84 ± 2.21 μm). Values of serum cholinesterase (SChE) concentration were slightly lower (P > 0.05) in exposed individuals, whereas values of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) concentration were significantly higher (P < 0.01) in exposed individuals compared with control group. Exposure duration and total insecticide concentration in blood samples were positively associated with comet tail length, ALT activity, AST activity, and ALP activity, but negatively with SChE. DNA damage was higher in smokers vs. non-smokers. Also, a positive association was found between comet tail length and number of cigarettes per day. Overall, occupational exposure to insecticides can pose serious health risks to pesticide operators and workers in pesticide manufacturing industry, highlighting the necessity of personal protection in those groups for preventing exposure and resultant health disorders.

KW - DNA damage

KW - Enzyme activity

KW - Occupational safety

KW - Pesticide exposure

U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175

DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.175

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 30469056

AN - SCOPUS:85056775882

SN - 0048-9697

VL - 655

SP - 102

EP - 111

JO - Science of the Total Environment

JF - Science of the Total Environment

ER -

Insecticide toxic effects and blood biochemical alterations in occupationally exposed individuals in Punjab, Pakistan

Abstract

Keywords

UN SDGs

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