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Respiratory diseases were also diagnosed by a physician (Table 2). Chronic
bronchitis accounted for 12.8% of the responses, asthma 2.7%, and tuberculosis
0.2%. Official data for the region confirmed the prevalence of tuberculosis.
Compared with nonusers, a higher prevalence of colds that became localized
in the chest was observed in users exposed to high levels of paraquat. This
difference was not significant when the values for high- and low-exposure
users were combined and compared with nonusers. This phenomenon can be
explained by differences in the handling of paraquat, i.e., some users apply
paraquat correctly, whereas others do not.
In the subsample examined, chronic bronchitis, one of the diseases of the
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) group and the pathology of
greatest concern, was more prevalent in paraquat users. Chronic bronchitis
was also more prevalent in both smoking and nonsmoking paraquat users
compared with nonusers in both categories (Table 3). The highest prevalence
Table 2. Physical condition of paraquat users compared with nonusers.
Diagnosis
Nonusers Users
No. No. %
Diagnosis
Hypertension 11 1.4 1 0.8
Cold 38 4.9 2 1.6
Chronic bronchitis 9 1.2 14 10.9
Asthma 5 0.7 0 0
Allergic rhinitis 4 0.5 0 0
Other 27 3.5 5 3.9
Subtotal 94 12.2 22 17.2
Healthy heart and lungs 674 87.8 106 82.8
Total examined 768 100 128 100
Table 3. Effect of smoking on the medical condition of
paraquat users and nonusers (number and %).
Smokers Nonsmokers
Nonusers Users Nonusers Users
Hypertension 2(1.1) 1(1.8) 9(1.8) 0
Cold 9(5.0) 1(1.8) 21 (4.2) 1(1.3)
Chronic bronchitis 7 (3.9) 13 (23.2) 1 (0.2) 1 (1.3)
Asthma 1(0.5) 0 4(0.8) 0
Allergic rhinitis 0 0 4(0.8) 0
Other 8(4.4) 2(3.6) 19 (3.8) 3 (4.0)
Subtotal 27 (15.0) 17 (30.4) 58 (11.7) 5(5.7)
Healthy heart and lungs 153 (85.0) 39 (69.6) 439 (88.3) 70 (93.3)
Total examined 180(100) 56(100) 497 (100) 75 (100)
90