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BACKGROUND: Multiple epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to pesticides is associated with adverse health outcomes. However, the literature on pesticide-related health effects in the Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) region, an area of intensive agricultural and residential pesticide use, is sparse. We conducted a scoping review to describe the current state of research on the health effects of pesticide exposure in LAC populations with the goal of identifying knowledge gaps and research capacity building needs. METHODS: We searched PubMed and SciELO for epidemiological studies on pesticide exposure and human health in LAC populations published between January 2007 and December 2021. We identified 233 publications from 16 countries that met our inclusion criteria and grouped them by health outcome (genotoxicity, neurobehavioral outcomes, placental outcomes and teratogenicity, cancer, thyroid function, reproductive outcomes, birth outcomes and child growth, and others). RESULTS: Most published studies were conducted in Brazil (37%, n = 88) and Mexico (20%, n = 46), were cross-sectional in design (72%, n = 167), and focused on farmworkers (45%, n = 105) or children (21%, n = 48). The most frequently studied health effects included genotoxicity (24%, n = 62) and neurobehavioral outcomes (21%, n = 54), and organophosphate (OP) pesticides were the most frequently examined (26%, n = 81). Forty-seven percent (n = 112) of the studies relied only on indirect pesticide exposure assessment methods. Exposure to OP pesticides, carbamates, or to multiple pesticide classes was consistently associated with markers of genotoxicity and adverse neurobehavioral outcomes, particularly among children and farmworkers. DISCUSSION: Our scoping review provides some evidence that exposure to pesticides may adversely impact the health of LAC populations, but methodological limitations and inconsistencies undermine the strength of the conclusions. It is critical to increase capacity building, integrate research initiatives, and conduct more rigorous epidemiological studies in the region to address these limitations, better inform public health surveillance systems, and maximize the impact of research on public policies., Fil: Zúñiga-Venegas, Liliana A. Universidad Católica del Maule. Centro de Investigaciones de Estudios Avanzados del Maule; Chile, Fil: Hyland, Carly. University of California. School of Public Health. Center for Environmental Research and Community Health; Estados Unidos, Fil: Hyland, Carly. Boise State University. School of Public Health and Population Science; Estados Unidos, Fil: Muñoz-Quezada, María Teresa. Universidad Católica del Maule. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas; Chile, Fil: Quirós-Alcalá, Lesliam. John Hopkins University. Bloomberg School of Public Health. Department of Environmental Health and Engineering; Estados Unidos, Fil: Quirós-Alcalá, Lesliam. University of Maryland. School of Public Health. Maryland Institute of Applied Environmental Health; Estados Unidos, Fil: Butinof, Mariana. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina, Fil: Buralli, Rafael. Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Saúde Pública. Departamento de Saúde Ambiental; Brasil, Fil: Cardenas, Andres. University of California. School of Public Health. Center for Environmental Research and Community Health; Estados Unidos, Fil: Fernandez, Ricardo A. Universidad Católica de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud; Argentina, Fil: Foerster, Claudia. Universidad de O’Higgins. Instituto de Ciencias de la Agroalimentarias, Animales y Ambientales; Chile, Fil: Gouveia, Nelson. Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Departamento de Medicina Preventiva; Brasil, Fil: Jara, Juan P. Gutiérrez. Universidad Católica del Maule. Centro de Investigaciones de Estudios Avanzados del Maule; Chile, Fil: Lucero, Boris A. Universidad Católica del Maule. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Centro de Investigación en Neuropsicología y Neurociencias Cognitivas; Chile, Fil: Muñoz, María Pía. Universidad de Chile. Facultad de Medicina. Escuela de Salud Pública; Chile, Fil: Ramírez-Santana, Muriel. Universidad Católica del Norte. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Salud Pública; Chile, Fil: Smith, Anna R. University of California. School of Public Health. Center for Environmental Research and Community Health; Estados Unidos, Fil: Tirado, Noemi. Universidad Mayor de San Andrés. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Genética; Bolivia, Fil: de Joode, Berna van Wendel. Universidad Nacional. Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances. Infants’ Environmental Health Study; Costa Rica, Fil: Calaf, Gloria M. Universidad de Tarapacá. Instituto de Alta Investigación; Chile, Fil: Calaf, Gloria M. Columbia University Medical Center; Estados Unidos, Fil: Handal, Alexis J. University of Michigan School of Public Health. Department of Epidemiology; Estados Unidos, Fil: da Silva, Agnes Soares. Pan American Health Organization. Estados Unidos, Fil: Cortés, Sandra. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Departamento de Salud Pública. Centro de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable. Centro Avanzado de Enfermedades Crónicas (ACCDiS); Chile, Fil: Mora, Ana M. University of California. School of Public Health. Center for Environmental Research and Community Health; Estados Unidos, Fil: Mora, Ana M. Universidad Nacional. Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances. Infants’ Environmental Health Study; Costa Rica

The active ingredients in pesticides are known to be genotoxic that can cause mutations, chromosomal aberrations, or other types of DNA damage. Early detection of genotoxicity reduces the risk of developing diseases such as cancer or suffering from reproductive disorders. In turn, the genotoxic risk depends on the intrinsic capability of the individual to metabolize and eliminate the xenobiotic from the organism. This study aimed to determine if two polymorphisms of paraoxonase-1 (PON1), which is involved in the metabolism of several organophosphate (OP) pesticides, are predictors of susceptibility to DNA damage in agricultural workers and inhabitants of rural areas chronically exposed to pesticides. A cross-sectional study was made considering three groups: agricultural workers (occupational exposure, OE, n = 85), rural inhabitants (environmental exposure, EE, n = 60), and an unexposed group conformed by people living far from agricultural areas (U, n = 33). The level of individual DNA damage was measured using the comet assay, and genotyping was done to determine the PON1 Q192R and L55M polymorphisms. Acetylcholinesterase and butyrilcholinesterase activities were also measured to determine exposure to OP. Individuals belonging to EE and OE groups displayed higher levels of DNA damage compared with U group (p .001). OP exposure was the main predictor of genotoxicity (β = 16.19; 95% CI: 1.85, 30.52), instead of PON1 polymorphisms (β = -12.20; 95% CI: -27.87, 3.48). These results confirm the genotoxic effects of pesticide exposure and suggest that the catalytic efficiency of PON1 to metabolize OP pesticides becomes negligible in individuals with a history of long-term environmental or occupational exposure to these substances.

Significant risks to human health have been associated with chronic exposure to low doses of pesticides, a situation which may be frequent among agricultural workers. In this context, and regarding the agricultural-based economy of central Chile, we aimed to explore the genotoxic damage in agricultural workers and reproductive risk among women in rural and urban areas of Curicó, a traditional agricultural district in Chile. Hence, we sampled a group of rural agricultural workers associated with pesticide management (n = 30) and an urban unexposed group (n = 30). Our results showed that the agricultural workers had higher micronuclei frequencies (MN: β = 13.27; 95% CI low = 11.08, CI high = 15.47) and women had a 40-fold higher risk of reproductive problems (OR = 40.32; 95% CI low = 2.60, CI high = 624.31) than the unexposed group. The factor analysis of mixed data (FAMD) showed that neither the sex nor smoking habits appear to define the ordination of the data. Nevertheless, the exposure level did segregate them in the multidimensional space (explained variance: 35.38% dim-1; 18.63% dim-2). This pilot study highlights the higher risks of biological conditions negatively associated with the health of agricultural workers.