Abstract:
Pesticides are still widely used in Thai agriculture. Pesticide exposure can have a direct impact on the health of farmers. The purpose of this study was to look into the effects of pesticide exposure on liver and kidney function in Thai vegetable farmers. A cross-sectional study was carried out in the Mae On District of Chiang Mai Province in Northern Thailand. Convenience sampling was used to recruit a total of 124 healthy vegetable farmers. Participants were interviewed about their lifetime exposure to agricultural pesticides and given venous blood samples to evaluate their liver and kidney functions, including aspartate aminotransferase (AST/SGOT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT/SGPT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). To compare liver and kidney functions between pesticide users and non-pesticide users, the independent T-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for normal and non-normal data distribution, respectively. The personal information of vegetable farmers revealed that the majority of them (62.1%) were female, with an average age of 47.96 years. Approximately 46% (n=57) of them had never used pesticides on their crops. They were 89.5% mixer and 89.5% sprayer. The average time spent using pesticides was 12.19 years. In males, the median eGFR difference between pesticide users (102.55 ml/min/1.73 m2) and non-pesticide users (112.58 ml/min/1.73 m2) was significant (p = 0.020). The median AST difference between pesticide users (27.00 units/l) and non-pesticide users (19.00 units/l) was significant (p = 0.033). In females, the median ALT was significantly different between pesticide users (19.00 units/l) and non-pesticide users (15.00 unit/l) (p = 0.029). The mean ALP was significantly different between pesticide users (63.87 units/l) and non-pesticide users (77.36 units/l) (p = 0.020). In conclusion, pesticide-using vegetable farmers may be at a higher risk of renal and hepatic dysfunction.