Association between Haematological Parameters and Exposure to a Mixture of Organophosphate and Neonicotinoid Insecticides among Male Farmworkers in Northern Thailand

Abstract

Exposure to insecticides may result in various health problems. This study investigated the association between haematological parameters and exposure to a mixture of organophosphate (OP) and neonicotinoid (NEO) insecticides among male farmworkers in Fang district, Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand. Concentrations of urinary dialkylphosphates, non-specific metabolites of OPs, and NEOs and their metabolites and haematological parameters were measured in 143 male farmworkers. The Bayesian kernel machine regression model was employed to evaluate the associations. Exposure to a mixture of insecticides was significantly associated with the mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) when the concentrations of all the compounds and their metabolites were at the 60th percentile or higher compared with the 50th percentile. Furthermore, exposure to clothianidin (CLO) showed a decreasing association with MCHC when all the other insecticides were at their mean concentrations. CLO was the most likely compound to reduce MCHC, and this was confirmed by sensitivity analysis. These findings suggest that exposure to NEO insecticides, especially CLO, affects the haematological status relating to haemoglobin parameters.

Neonicotinoid Insecticides and Their Metabolites Can Pass through the Human Placenta Unimpeded

“…In accordance with these results, Loutfy and Kamel found that ACE exposure significantly reduced MCHC, MPV, and MCHC in Egyptian frogs. 79 An epidemiological study showed that CLO exposure was negatively correlated with MCHC, 80 and increased EO and LYMPH counts were implicated in inflammatory processes. 81 This is the first study to associate maternal hematological parameters with p-NEOs or their metabolites in MS, and further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm our findings.…”