Please cite this article in press as: Abbassy MA, et al. Adverse biochemical effects of various pesticides on sprayers of cotton fields in El-Behira Governorate, Egypt. Biomed Aging Pathol (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomag.2014.04.004 ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model BIOMAG-146; No. of Pages 6 Biomedicine & Aging Pathology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx Available online at ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com Original article Adverse biochemical effects of various pesticides on sprayers of cotton fields in El-Behira Governorate, Egypt Moustafa A. Abbassy a , Abd El-Salam Mohamed Marei b , Mohamed Aatef Mohamed Al-Ashkar a , Abdel-Tawab H. Mossa c,∗ a Department of Plant Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Damanhour University, Egypt b Pesticide Chemistry Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Egypt c Environmental Toxicology Research Unit (ETRU), Pesticide Chemistry Department, National Research Centre (NRC), Tahrir Street, Dokki, Cairo 12311, Egypt a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 15 March 2014 Accepted 18 April 2014 Available online xxx Keywords: Pesticide Sprayers Cotton fields Biochemical Hormones Smoker a b s t r a c t A total of 60 healthy pesticide sprayers (smokers and non-smokers) in cotton fields exposed to differ- ent classes of pesticides for many years were compared with controls matched for age with respect to serum cholinesterase (ChE), serum total protein, alkaline and acid phosphatases (ALP and AP), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), creatine kinase (CK), blood glucose, serum hormones FSH, testosterone and L-thyroxine (T4). Significant increase was observed in serum ALP, AP, LDH, GGT, CK, serum hormones FSH, testosterone, L-thyroxine and blood glucose. Significant decrease in serum total protein and ChE. The increase or decrease in the tested biomarkers was more pronounced in the smokers than non-smoker workers. These results suggest that the long-term exposure of various pesticides on sprayers of cotton fields affect the normal functioning of different organ systems and may produce characteristic clinical effects. © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Humans interact with their environments on a daily basis and, as a consequence, are exposed to a broad spectrum of synthesized chemicals present in the food they eat, the air they breathe, and the water they drink. A wide range of synthetic pesticides have been released into the rural environment through the agricultural activ- ities to control the agricultural pests, insect pests, plant pathogens and weeds in both developed and developing countries. Pesticide formulations are complex mixtures which contain, besides the active ingredient(s), several other components, such as solvent, wetting and emulsifying agents, and additives [1]. Fur- thermore, it is typical of various agricultural uses of pesticides that different formulations are simultaneously used that varying com- binations are applied depending on the time of the growing season [2]. This makes the exposures complex, and the biomonitoring of specific compounds for exposure evaluation may become difficult. The possible combined toxic effects of such complex exposures are not usually known. Thus, toxicity information concerning active ingredients or formulates alone is not sufficient to evaluate the risk of adverse health effects from pesticide exposure [3]. ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +202 33371211; fax: +202 33370931. E-mail addresses: abdeltawab.mossa@yahoo.com, mossa nrc@yahoo.com (A.-T.H. Mossa). In Egypt, workers involved in spraying are exposed to a number of pesticides during the handling, mixing and filling of pesticide for- mulations into mixing containers and spraying equipments. They are also exposed to pesticide aerosols in course of their work. Pro- tective devices, such as respirators, gowns, gloves and boots are generally not used. Also, it is exceedingly plausible that less con- trolled and regulated uses of pesticides may offer the greatest opportunity for exposure to toxicicologically significant quanti- ties. Studies on the adverse effects of pesticides on the Egyptian pesticide sprayers and farm workers are scant. Most of annually consumed pesticides in El-Behira Governorate, Egypt were used for control of cotton pests. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate whether the long-term exposure to pesticides, mainly organophosphorus, carbamates and pyrethroids, had harmful effects on the health of the most important factors in development of environment, farm workers and pesticide sprayers in terms of their serum biochemical variables. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Population and sampling The current study was conducted at 60 male agriculture work- ers ranging in age from 30–45 years from Damanhour regions at El-Behira Governorate. The basis of selection was to exclude those with past or present history of liver diseases or past history of http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomag.2014.04.004 2210-5220/© 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.