The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #55228

Peter Kunstadter, PhD, Asian Health Program, UCSF-FMEP, University of California, San Francisco, 550 E. Shaw Ave., Suite 210, Fresno, CA 93710, 559 241 7630, arttown@itsa.ucsf.edu, Tippawan Prapamontol, PhD, Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University, P.O. Box 80, CMU, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand, and Umnat Mevatee, Drrernat, Department of Anatomy, Chiang Mai University, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai, 50200, Thailand.

Hmong farmers in Thailand changed rapidly since the mid-1970s from land-extensive “organic” shifting cultivation of subsistence crops to land-, chemical- and machinery-intensive fixed-field farming of cash crops. Cash crops for local and international markets often require heavy, repeated applications of pesticides, fungicides, herbicides hormones and adherents to assure high productivity and high price.

We screened for cholinesterase inhibition (CI) and chromosomal aberrations during 3 seasons among 225 members of 26 randomly selected highland Hmong households, age > 1 year. CI occurs among all ages and both sexes of the population, including those who apply pesticides themselves and those who do not. Highest proportions of high and dangerous levels of CI are found among children age 1 – 10 years. Level of CI is strongly associated with the peak season of pesticide use and declines, but still exists during seasons when pesticide use declines or is absent. Chromosomal aberrations are also associated with exposure.

Men are more likely to spray pesticides, but women (who sometimes spray and often follow directly after men to carry the hose from the pump) are less likely to wear protective clothing. Children may be exposed when they play around equipment or in recently exposed fields.

Learning Objectives:

• Learning objectives: Become familiar with methods used to study behavioral and biomedical aspects of exposure to pesticides and to study variations of exposure over time; Learn about high levels of exposure among populations in developing countries, and the association of exposure with production of export crops for the world market.

Keywords: Pesticide Exposure, Developing Countries

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.