Determining the effects of pesticides on workers' health through the evaluation of biomarkers

Brazil is the largest global consumer of pesticides and this practice has resulted in countless cases of intoxications that cause illness and deaths to workers, significant expenses to the public health system and disastrous environmental consequences. The work had as general objective: to evaluate the effects of the use of pesticides on the health of rural workers in terms of intoxication through the assessment of the erythrocyte and plasma cholinesterase biomarkers. This is a cross-sectional, analytical study, comparing the Group (1) of rural workers directly exposed to pesticides and the Group (2) of users of the Family Health Programs (PSF), in the municipalities of Capitólio and Pimenta - Minas Gerais, Brazil, not directly exposed to pesticides for the intoxication outcome identified by the analysis of biomarkers. Altogether 140 employees made up the studied sample. Our results demonstrate that life habits and health conditions have a strong relationship with symptoms found in individuals who have been exposed to pesticides.