Plaguicidas organofosforados y efecto neuropsicológico y motor en la Región del Maule, Chile

María Teresa Muñoz-Quezada, Boris Lucero, Verónica Iglesias, María Pía Muñoz, Eduardo Achú, Claudia Cornejo, Carlos Concha, Angela Grillo, Ana María Brito

To evaluate organophosphate pesticide exposure and neuropsychological and motor performance in agricultural and non-agricultural workers in the Maule Region in Chile. Analytic cross-sectional study in 93 exposed farm workers and 84 unexposed non-agricultural workers. A battery of four neuropsychological tests was administered together with a neuro-motor physical examination. On the Weschler adult intelligence scale (WAIS-IV), exposed agricultural workers exhibited poorer performance than non-agricultural workers in verbal comprehension (β=-3.2; p=0.034) and processing speed (β=-4.4; p=0.036) and in the full scale (β=-4; p=0.016), as well as in discrimination sensitivity (β=1, p=0,009), adjusted by years of schooling and/or age. We suggest the development of policies and regulations for the control, sale and use of organophosphate pesticides and intervention strategies on safety measures aimed at the exposed population.