Background: Many studies revealed toxic effects of pesticides on pesticide handlers but very fewer studies have been reported among grape garden pesticide sprayers in India. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of pesticides among grape garden sprayers. Methods: 27 pesticide sprayers in study group and 27 non sprayers in control group were recruited. Blood samples were analyzed for hematological profile, biochemical parameters and urine samples for oxidative stress, buccal mucosal cells for genotoxicity. For statistical analysis student's t-test and Mann Whitney U test were used.

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Skin diseases are a major occupational health issue in tannery workers because of work related exposure to various toxic chemicals used in tanning process. In the present study, prevalence of various skin diseases and predisposing factors in tannery workers were investigated.A cross sectional study including 114 tannery workers (male-89; female-25) employed at different tanneries of Southern India was carried out. Face to face interview with pre-designed questionnaire and health examination was conducted. Skin samples obtained from the participants were subjected to microscopic examination and microbial culture for diagnosis of skin diseases. The prevalence of occupational skin disorders were 39% among the study participants. Contact dermatitis (16%), skin infections (16%), eczematous lesions (7%) and nail discoloration (1.75%) wereidentified. Skin infections of fungal origin were identified among 11.4% of subjects. The skin infections of fungi; tenia corporis, tenia cruris, tenia unguium, tenia versicolor, tenia pedis and Pityriosis versicolor were identified. Bacterial skin infections identified were associated with contact dermatitis. Lack of PPE usage was reported among 30% of workers. Hazardous working environment, chemical exposure, humidity and lack of PPEusage were significantly associated with increased skin disease incidence(p<0.05), indicating the major predisposing factorsfor Occupation skin diseases.The findings of the study emphasize that,workers in the pre-tanning section and tanning sections are more vulnerable to occupational skin diseases.Compliance to use of PPEs, engineering controls to reduce exposure, education, frequent health surveillance and early identification & treatment could mitigate the occupational skindiseasesamongtannery workers.

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Objectives: Fluoride pollution at the workplace environment arises mostly due to anthropogenic activities. The workers working in phosphate fertilizer industry might have chronic exposure to excessive fluoride which can cause adverse health effects. Therefore, the present study was designed to assess urinary fluoride levels in occupationally exposed workers. Methods: In this study, pre and post-shift urinary samples were collected from phosphate fertilizer industry male workers (n=53). Fluoride levels in urine samples were analysed using an Ion Selective Electrode (ISE). Findings: The mean concentration of pre-shift and post-shift urinary fluoride levels were 2.14±1.35 and 2.42±2.02 mg/g of urinary creatinine respectively. Workers' pre-shift mean urine fluoride levels were categorised according to their working departments. Workers from the manufacture plat of Single Super Phosphate (SSP), Granular Single Super Phosphate (GSSP), maintenance, and administration had fluoride levels of 2.87±1.88, 2.43±1.01, 2.16±1.30, and 0.92±0.601 mg/g of urine creatinine, respectively. Similarly, the post-shift urinary fluoride levels were 3.68±3.00, 2.64±1.85, 2.24±1.78 and 1.14±0.53 mg/g of urinary creatinine in these departments respectively. One-way analysis of variance shown significant difference in urine fluoride concentrations between pre-shift (ANOVA, df=3, F=4.717; p=0.006) and post-shift samples (ANOVA, df=3, F=2.895; p=0.044). About 22.64 % of subjects in the pre-shift and 3.77% of subjects in the post-shift had exceeded the urinary fluoride limits prescribed by various statutory agencies. Novelty: Based on pre-shift and post-shift work exposure assessments, this study adds new knowledge to scientific research on the fluoride exposure among phosphate fertiliser sector workers. While there is sporadic information on fluoride levels among various other occupational groups, very few reports reported the fluoride levels in fertilizer industry https://www.indjst.org/