Pesticide residues levels as hematological biomarkers—a case study, blood serum of greenhouse workers in the city of Hamadan, Iran

The cultivation of greenhouse crops is the most severe form of crop production in Iran, and vast quantities of unreasonable pesticides are being utilized to control the pests. The residual level of blood pesticides and their correlation with multibiomarkers were determined to evaluate the adverse health consequences on greenhouse workers in the Hamadan, west of Iran. Participants were 180 adult males, including 90 greenhouse workers exposed to pesticides and 90 control individuals. Blood samples were taken from all subjects for pesticide residues analysis, and hematological and biochemical parameters. The blood pesticide residues were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC) with a flame ionization detector. Hematological and biochemical parameters were determined using hematology cell counter and auto analyze, respectively. Statistical analyses were done with STATA version 14.2 software. The multivariate regression was used for relationship between various pesticide concentrations in blood and changes in biomarkers in pesticide exposed group. The analyses revealed that 64 out of the 90 workers had residues of dichlorvos, diazinon, and chlorpyrifos in their blood serum, and 56.25% out of these workers were exposed for >15-year period. The residues of all three pesticides were higher than the no observable adverse effect level (NOAEL) in all the exposure duration categories. Comparisons of hematological parameters showed that mean monocyte (0.76±0.41, P < 0.001), lymphocyte (3.52±1.20, P < 0.001) and platelet counts (278.18±66.05, P=0.001), mean platelet volume (10.18±0.59, P=0.002), and plateletcrit (PCT) (0.275±0.05, P<0.001) were significantly higher in workers than the controls, whereas hemoglobin (HB) (14.61±1.28, P=0.028), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations (MCHC) (32.44±0.90, P<0.001) were lower in workers than controls. These results indicate that the exposed individuals have experienced significant hemotoxic effects during the pesticide exposure. The study also predicts the risk to exposed individuals in developing countries like Iran and demands realization of safety measures to prevent such dangerous effects of pesticide exposures.