Health Hazard Evaluation Report HETA 82-248-1472, Pesticide Applicators, Fresno, California

摘要

On May 2, 1982, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) received a request for technical assistance from the California State Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, in the evaluation of a new method for the estimation of cholinesterase inhibition in pesticide applicators developed at the University of Michigan Department of Pharmacology laboratories. NIOSH evaluated whether organophosphate exposure could be quantitated by measuring the ratio of serum cholinesterase (BCHE) activity to the quantity of BCHE protein determined by immunodiffusion, in vitro testing and in pesticide applicators. Due to the absence of severe cholinesterase inhibition among the applicators, further testing of this method is recommended. The method may offer a means of laboratory confirmation of organophosphate exposures in workers without pre-exposure baseline cholinesterase levels.