Open AccessChronic lymphocytic leukaemia in Egyptian farm workers exposed to pesticides
Author(s) -
W Y el-Sadek,
Murtala Hassan Hassan
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
eastern mediterranean health journal/eastern mediterranean health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.442
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1687-1634
pISSN - 1020-3397
DOI - 10.26719/1999.5.5.960
Subject(s) - pesticide , farm workers , medicine , socioeconomic status , environmental health , occupational exposure , toxicology , occupational medicine , physiology , agriculture , biology , population , ecology , agronomy
We aimed to explore the relationship between chronic lymphocytic leukaemia and pesticide exposure among farm workers. Blood samples were obtained from 932 male Egyptian farm workers exposed to pesticides and from a control group of 932 males of similar age and socioeconomic status who were not involved in farming and did not normally deal with pesticides. The farm workers had significantly higher lymphocyte, white blood corpuscle and platelet counts. About 5% of the farm workers over 40 years had immature cells. Two of the farm workers and none of the control group had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, giving an undefined relative risk and an attributable risk of 2.1 per 1000, which was not statistically significant