26.12.2012 Views

Impact of - IDL-BNC @ IDRC - International Development Research ...

Impact of - IDL-BNC @ IDRC - International Development Research ...

Impact of - IDL-BNC @ IDRC - International Development Research ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Data analysis<br />

Because <strong>of</strong> the many factors that influence AChE levels, nonparametric statistical<br />

tests were used to evaluate the significance <strong>of</strong> differences in activity These<br />

included Spearman and Wilcoxon ranked matched-pair tests. Significance<br />

tests were based on Spearman's matched-pairs rank correlation coefficient.<br />

Choice <strong>of</strong> pesticide<br />

Results and discussion<br />

The choice <strong>of</strong> methamidophos, the organophosphate pesticide used in this<br />

study, was left entirely to the farmers. To achieve uniform results, we opted to<br />

work with farmers using the same pesticide throughout the study.<br />

Methamidophos was not the best choice for our purposes, as it is a relatively<br />

weak AChE inhibitor in spite <strong>of</strong> its good insecticidal activity (Quistad et al.<br />

1970). In addition, it is highly toxic, with a Class I toxicity rating; in rats, the<br />

acute oral LD50 (lethal dose to 50% <strong>of</strong> animals tested) is 30mg/kg in rats (WHO<br />

1988).<br />

The concentration <strong>of</strong> pesticide after dilution was 1.2 gIL, which is double that<br />

recommended for the type <strong>of</strong> equipment the farmers normally use. Again the<br />

choice <strong>of</strong> concentration was left to the farmers.<br />

AChE levels in blood samples<br />

Mean AChE levels for Group I were significantly lower (at the 95% confidence<br />

level) 2 h after completion <strong>of</strong> the spraying operation compared with levels<br />

before spraying (Fig. 1). The difference was not significant on the following<br />

2 days, indicating a recovery in AChE level. Exposure time for this group,<br />

which sprayed 1 000 L per subgroup <strong>of</strong> 1.2 gIL methamidophos, was 1.5-2 h<br />

per subgroup. At no time did AChE levels fall below normal range.<br />

Group II also displayed a significant decrease in AChE levels in whole blood<br />

during the first 2 h after spraying, but their AChE levels were also significantly<br />

below those measured before spraying on the following 2 days. This group<br />

sprayed 2 000 L <strong>of</strong> 1.2 gIL methamidophos per subgroup. We observed that<br />

2 000 L (four tanks) was the minimum a farmer would use on a particular<br />

spraying day; hence this level <strong>of</strong> exposure is realistic. Total exposure time was<br />

3-3.5 h per subgroup.<br />

No clinical symptoms <strong>of</strong> intoxication with methamidophos were evident<br />

among the participants, except for fatigue.<br />

AChE levels in whole blood were measured twice: during the spraying season<br />

in March and again at the end <strong>of</strong> the season in September. For the early test,<br />

134

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!