Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine

  • Volume 34
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  • Pages.42.1-42.11
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  • 2022
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  • 1225-3618(pISSN)
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  • 2052-4374(eISSN)
The Korean Society of Occupational & Environmental Medicine (대한직업환경의학회)
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Occupational factors affecting the decline in pulmonary function among male farmers using occupational pesticide in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

  • Sooyeon Lee (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital) ;
  • Jiyoung Han (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital) ;
  • Seung Hee Woo (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital) ;
  • Soo-Jin Lee (Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Hanyang University Hospital)
  • Received : 2021.09.28
  • Accepted : 2022.11.08
  • Published : 2022.12.31
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Abstract

Background: Occupational pesticide exposure is a potential risk for respiratory health effects. Most clinical studies on pesticide exposure were related to acute exposure, and only a few studies on chronic exposure have been conducted. This study investigated the chronic respiratory health status and the chronic effects of occupational pesticide exposures of farmers in Gyeonggi-do. Methods: Surveys and pulmonary function tests were conducted on 1,697 farmers in 16 regions of Gyeonggi-do. The structured questionnaire included demographic characteristics, medical history, recent respiratory symptoms and diseases, and work-related conditions, and was conducted through one-on-one interviews. The prevalence of respiratory diseases was compared by the odds ratios (ORs) at 95% confidence intervals (CIs) estimated by logistic regression analysis. Additional multivariate logistic regression analysis was also conducted. Results: Pesticide work groups showed significant association with an obstructive pattern in the lung function test (unadjusted OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.17-5.52). Selected work-related variables of pesticide exposure were 'start age,' 'cumulative duration,' 'mixing pesticides,' and 'protection(goggle).' The obstructive pattern of lung function test showed significant associations with mixing pesticides (OR, 2.30; 95% CI,1.07-5.46), and protection (goggle) use (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.12-0.79). Conclusions: Mixing two or more pesticides showed a significant association. Wearing goggles can be seen as an indicator of awareness of the protective equipment and proper wearing of protective equipment, and loss of pulmonary function can be prevented when appropriate protection is worn.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This work was carried out with the support of the "Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development (Project No. PJ014269032021)," Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

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