• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.239-244
• /
• 2015

Background: One of the causes of acute leukemia can be exposure to certain chemicals such as pesticides. This study determined the relationship between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence of acute leukemia in Fars province, south of Iran. Materials and Methods: Between April 2011 and April 2013 in a case-control study conducted in Nemazee Hospital in Shiraz, Southern Iran; 314 subjects diagnosed with acute leukemia (94 pediatric cases and 220 adults) were enrolled to determine any correlation between exposure to pesticides and the occurrence. Controls (n=314) were matched by sex and age. Results: There was a history of exposure to pesticides among 85% of pediatric cases and 69% of their controls and 83% of adult cases and 75% of their controls while 87.5% of pediatric cases and 90% of adult cases reported exposure to intermediate and high doses of pesticides and among the controls, the exposure to low doses of pesticides was 70.5% and 65%, respectively. Exposure to indoor pesticides was seen among most of cases and controls. Being a farmer was at a significantly more increased risk of developing acute leukemia in comparison to other jobs, especially for their children. Conclusions: Exposure to pesticides was shown to be one of the most important causes of acute leukemia. It seems that there is a need to educate the people on public health importance of exposure to pesticides especially during school time to reduce the risk of malignancies during childhood.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.244-253
• /
• 2022

Background: The indiscriminate use of pesticides in Nigeria may have harmful effects on reproductive health of farmers. Objectives: This study assessed the awareness of reproductive health, serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone, estradiol, progesterone and sperm characteristics of male farmers occupationally exposed to pesticides. Methods: Eighty four male farmers were recruited for the study. Structured questionnaire was used to obtain the socio-demographic data. Blood and semen samples were collected from the subjects in the morning for hormonal assays and semen analysis using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method and SQAV sperm quality analyzer. Data were analyzed using chi square, Student's-t-test, and Regression analysis. Results: Serum FSH (p<0.01), LH (p<0.005) and Estradiol (p<0.001) were significantly higher while prolactin (p<0.02) and testosterone (p<0.001) were significantly lower among pesticides exposed farmers than nonexposed subjects. Some 34/84 (40.5%) of the pesticides exposed farmers had serum testosterone levels below the lower limit of the reference range. Those with low testosterone levels (p<0.001), also had FSH (p<0.05), LH (p<0.001) and Estradiol (p<0.002) significantly lower than those with normal testosterone levels. The sperm count among pesticides exposed farmers; total motility and percentage morphology were significantly lower than non-pesticides exposed subjects. Some 14/84 (16.7%) of the pesticides exposed farmers had sperm count below 15 million/mL (oligozoospermia). More than 70% of the farmers were not aware of the reproductive health risks associated with pesticides and only 23.8% of the farmers were using protective devices. Conclusions: Deliberate efforts to improve awareness, knowledge, personal hygiene, and interventions necessary to lessen both pesticides exposure and health risks by adopting safe practices are suggested.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.63-74
• /
• 2011

A spiral wound nanofiltration (NF) membrane (GE Osmonics, DK 4040F) was used to remove pesticides from water. Several solutions of single pesticides and their mixtures were prepared. The pesticides initial concentration ranged from ca. 50 ng/L (single pesticide) to ca. 700 ng/L (as sum of 14 pesticides) and progressively increased with time since the NF experiments were carried out in a concentration mode up to a Volume Concentration Ratio, VCR = 10. Permeate flux and pesticides retention were evaluated as a function of the Volume Concentration Ratio. The permeate flux did not practically change by varying VCR. Pesticide retention was found to be around 97-98% both in the cases of single pesticide solutions and different mixtures of pollutants, and was not affected by the VCR. Pesticides concentration in permeate samples was found to be lower than the maximum concentration level fixed in European directive.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.37 no.1
• /
• pp.1-11
• /
• 2024

In agricultural households cultivating vegetables and fruits, the use of various pesticides to protect crops from diseases and pests or to control weeds is widely practiced enhancing quality and productivity. However, pesticides can pose a threat to consumer health by remaining on the food surface or migrating into the food interior. Households commonly peel off skins, wash with water, or use chemical methods to remove foreign substances including residual pesticides on the food surface. In this study, we measured the washing rate by comparing the pesticide concentrations before and after washing in the leafy vegetable perilla leaves and the fruits strawberries and apples, which were intentionally exposed to pesticides. We compared washing rates using tap water, a baking soda solution, and a commercially available food-specific cleaning solution. The target pesticides for analysis were azoxystrobin, bifenthrin, boscalid, difenoconazole, flubendiamide, and indoxacarb, and the residual pesticide analysis was performed using GC-MS/MS or LC-MS/MS. The removal rates of pesticides were highest with the food-specific cleaner, followed by baking soda and tap water in order.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF CROP SCIENCE
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.340-360
• /
• 1982

Because of the continuing rapid increase in pesticide usage in Taiwan, much attention has been focus on pesticide contamination of food and effect of pesticides on human and environmental health. The Plant Protection Center (PPC) conducts safety evaluation of pesticides usee! in Taiwan. The pesticides are classified into different groups based on their acute toxicities. Pesticides which are classified into extremely toxic group are not allow to used on short term crops or the continuously harvest crops. The acute toxicity of pesticides to the beneficial insects are also studied, special attention has been paid to the two predators of rice brown planthopper. 60% of cultivated land in Taiwan are paddy field; therefore, acute fish toxicity was taken into consideration when a pesticide was applied for registration to be used in the paddy. Fish toxicities were evaluated by the dangerous rating value which is the amount of pesticide residue in the field water over the TLM value. Mutagenicity of pesticides was continuously evaluated by using Arne's microbial testing method. Island wide survey of residual levels of pesticides of known pollutants such as chlorinated hydrocarbon . insecticides, mercurial compounds in soil, water and biological samples were carried out constantly. The potential of a new1y Imported esticides to pollute the environment were studied by using model ecosystem. Ecological magnification (EM) of a chemical was calculated from model ecosystem. A chemical was considered as a pollutant when its EM value over 5000. In order to ensure the levels of pesticides residue of the crop within the safety limit. The 'tolerance' of pesticides on different crop groupings were established base on 1) acceptable daily intake value of individual pesticides, 2) average daily consumption of each crop groupings by Chinese person, 3) Actual residues of pesticides. on different crops obtained from supervised trials. Total about 79 pesticides for which the tolerances have been established on different crop groupings. Because the intensive agricultural system was adopted in Taiwan. The phytotoxicity of pesticides to the non-target crops was therefore become one of the important factor in the safety evaluation of pesticide usage. These will include 1) direct injury, 2) injury caused by pesticide polluted irrigation water, 3) injury caused by the pesticide polluted soil, 4) reduction of growth caused by the effect of pesticide on the soil microorganisms. This paper will reviewed all the aspects mentioned in the previous .paragraphs. Most the works have done in Taiwan by the PPC.y the PPC.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.379-386
• /
• 1999

The adsorption and leaching of organophosphorus pesticides (phenthoate, diazinon, methidathion) were investigated in Namwon soli(black volcanic soil), Aewol soil(very dark brown volcanic soil) and Mureung soil(dark brown nonvolcanic soil) sampled in Cheju Island. The Freundlich constant, K value, was 52.4, 31.3 and 27.7 for phenthoate, diazinon and methidathion in Namwonsoil, respectively and decreased in the order of phenthoate, diazinon and methidathion among the pesticides. The K value of phenthoate was 52.4, 15.9 and 5.9 for Namwon, Aewol and Mureung soil, respectively and was the highest for Namwon soil with very high organic matter content and cation exchange capacity(CEC). The Freundlich constant, 1/n, showed a high correlation with organic matter content, i.e., its value was less than unity for organic matter rich soil(Namwon soil) and greater than unity for organic matter poor soil(Mureung soil). Total recoveries of pesticides in soil and leachate with leaching in soil column, were in the range of about 74~86%. The leaching of pesticides was less for phenthate with high K values, and more for methidathion with low K values among the pesticides. It was slower for Namwon soil with high K values, and more for methidathion with low K values among the pesticides. It was slower for Namwon soil with high K values, and faster for Mureung soil with low K values among the soils.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.421-433
• /
• 2002

This study was conducted to develope a simple, rapid and solvent-free solid-phase microextraction(SPME) procedure for extracting three organochlorine, one triazine and nine organophosphorus pesticides from water. The optimal conditions of SPME for analyses of organochlorine pesticides were obtained at $250^{\circ}C$ of desorption temperature, 45 minutes of equilibrium time, pH 6 and NaCl 0% addition using $100{\mu}m$ polydimethylsiloxane fiber and those of triazine and organophosphorus pesticides were obtained at $270^{\circ}C$ of desorption temperature, 60 minutes of equilibrium time, pH 6 and NaCl 0% addition using $100{\mu}m$ polydimethylsiloxane fiber. This method showed good lineality for organochlorine pesticides between 0.0001 and $10{\mu}g/L$ with regression coefficients ranging 0.9986~0.9992 and for triazine and organophosphorus pesticides between 0.01 and $10{\mu}g/L$ with regression coefficients ranging 0.9867~0.9998.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
• /
• v.32 no.3 s.126
• /
• pp.200-211
• /
• 2001

This study was carried out to determine the 11 organochlorine, 7 organophosphorus residual pesticides in 251 crude drugs. These residual pesticides in herbal drugs were extracted with acetonitrile and the extracts were cleaned up via LC-florisil solid phase extraction column. The prepared samples were assayed for pesticide residues using GC-ECD, NPD with capillary column and identified by GC-MSD. Recoveries were $63.9{\sim}111.5%$ in the organochlorine pesticides and $69.8{\sim}92.4%$ in the organophosphorus pesticides, and detection limits were $0.001{\sim}0.65\;ppm$ in the organochlorine pesticides and $0.0009{\sim}0.0074\;ppm$ in the organophosphorus pesticides. Pesticide residues were detected in 9 cases.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Tobacco Science
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.118-124
• /
• 2007

GRLs(Guidance Residue Levels) of agricultural chemicals for tobacco are recommended by the CORESTA Agro-Chemical Advisory Committee guide. In the GRLs list, organochlorine group is one of pesticides commonly used on tobacco cultivation. In this model study, the quantitative correlation in the transfer rate of pesticide residue into tobacco smoke by spiking of organochlorine pesticides to cigarette and pyrolysates were investigated. The spiking concentration referred to the range of GRLs list and the organochlorine pesticides in mainstream smoke were analyzed by GC-MS. For the understanding of the composition variation versus temperature, the behavior of pesticides was investigated by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(Py-GC-MS). In this study, the transfer rate of pesticide residue into tobacco smoke at four different spiking concentration and the composition of pyrolysates were analyzed differently. At $10\;{\mu}g/cig$ spiking concentrations, the organochlorine pesticides were transferred into tobacco smoke in $0.02\;{\sim}\;10.19\;%$ each of component and the most of pesticides were pyrolyzed during smoking. It was found that the decomposition compounds from organochlorine pesticides were mainly composed of oxygenated and nitrogenous compounds. This study could estimate that the transfer rate of pesticides into tobacco smoke is very small amount.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.20 no.1 s.37
• /
• pp.44-51
• /
• 1999

Analysis of residual pesticides in herbal drugs was performed by GC-ECD and GC-MS. Especially, selected ion monitoring(SIM) technique was applied to increase the GC/MS sensitivity. Analysis of residual pesticides was determined sensitivity and selectively without any internal standard by setting the SIM technique to their characteristic fragments for quantitation ion and confirmation ion. The combination of two detector, GC-ECD and MS-SIM technique, is abailable for determining a multiclass residual pesticides in herbal drugs. The average recoveries through the method were $65.9%{\sim}99.7%$ in herbal drugs. The data of gas chromatographic analysis was compared with the limits of residual pesticides in herbal drugs and agricultural foods. 4. 4-DDT was detected above the limits to the residual pesticides in herbal drugs. Diazinon and EPN were detected, but the limits of residual pesticides were less than that of agricultural foods.