Abstract
It has been widely reported that the farmers were at increased risk of neurologic disorders, which probably be related with agricultural risk factors. The intensity of agricultural risk factors was rather high in the solar greenhouse than those in the agricultural farm, while the risk and prevalence of neurologic symptoms among solar greenhouse workers are unclear, which may provide evidence of neurologic dysfunction before clinically measurable signs are evident. This study aimed to evaluate the association among solar greenhouse working, field working, and neurologic symptoms. A cross-sectional study was conducted in China, and 986 Chinese Han population consisting 711 solar greenhouse workers (greenhouse worker group) and 275 field farmers (field worker group) were included. Participants provided information on demographic information, number of solar greenhouses owned (only solar greenhouse workers), working lifetime, and neurologic symptoms through an established questionnaire Q16 to assess the impact of occupational exposure to neurotoxicants, and the total scores were calculated. Multiple linear regression models were used to analyze the association among solar greenhouse working, field working, and neurologic symptoms. The total scales of the neurologic symptoms were higher in the solar greenhouse worker group (20.29 ± 4.79) than those in the field worker group (19.44 ± 4.22) (p < 0.05). Multivariate multiple linear regression showed that solar greenhouse working was positively associated with the scales of the neurologic symptoms (β = 0.248, 95% CI: (0.112, 0.383)). And the age, working lifetime, and current smoking were also positively associated with the scores of the neurologic symptoms, β = 0.007, 0.006 and 0.485 respectively (All p < 0.05). Solar greenhouse workers probably be at an increased risk of neurologic symptoms scores, and the age, working lifetime, and current smoking were also risk factors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets used in the current study are available from the corresponding author (**aojun Zhu, Email: zhuxj_bj@126.com) on reasonable reason.
Abbreviations
- AChE :
-
Acetylcholinesterase
- ANOVA :
-
One-way variance
- BMI :
-
Body mass index
- COPD :
-
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- CI :
-
Confidence interval
- SD :
-
Standard deviations
References
Campbell AW, Thrasher JD, Madison RA et al (2003) Neural autoantibodies and neurophysiologic abnormalities in patients exposed to molds in water-damaged buildings. Arch Environ Health 58:464–474. https://doi.org/10.3200/AEOH.58.8.464-474
Cayir A, Coskun M, Coskun M, Cobanoglu H (2019) Comet assay for assessment of DNA damage in greenhouse workers exposed to pesticides. Biomarkers Biochem Indic Expo Response, Susceptibility to Chem 24:592–599. https://doi.org/10.1080/1354750X.2019.1610498
Comfort N, Re DB (2017) Sex-specific neurotoxic effects of organophosphate pesticides across the life course. Curr Environ Heal Reports 4:392–404. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-017-0171-y
El Rahman HAA, Salama M, Gad El-Hak SA et al (2018) A panel of autoantibodies against neural proteins as peripheral biomarker for pesticide-induced neurotoxicity. Neurotox Res 33:316–336. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12640-017-9793-y
Eskandar EN, Altschul DJ, de la Garza RR et al (2021) Neurologic syndromes predict higher in-hospital mortality in COVID-19. Neurology 96:e1527–e1538. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000011356
Eskenazi B, Marks AR, Bradman A et al (2007) Organophosphate pesticide exposure and neurodevelopment in young Mexican-American children. Environ Health Perspect 115:792–798. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.9828
Figueiredo TH, Apland JP, Braga MFM, Marini AM (2018) Acute and long-term consequences of exposure to organophosphate nerve agents in humans. Epilepsia 59(Suppl 2):92–99. https://doi.org/10.1111/epi.14500
Gerth van Wijk R, Patiwael JA, de Jong NW et al (2011) Occupational rhinitis in bell pepper greenhouse workers: determinants of leaving work and the effects of subsequent allergen avoidance on health-related quality of life. Allergy 66:903–908. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1398-9995.2011.02556.x
Hortidaily Global Greenhouse News (2019) World Greenhouse Vegetable Statistics updated foHortidaily:r. (2019-02-19), https://www.hortidaily.com/article/9073079/data-driven-decision-making-in-the-greenhousebecomes-reality/
Kamel F, Hoppin JA (2004) Association of pesticide exposure with neurologic dysfunction and disease. Environ Health Perspect 112:950–958. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7135
Kamel F, Engel LS, Gladen BC et al (2005) Neurologic symptoms in licensed private pesticide applicators in the agricultural health study. Environ Health Perspect 113:877–882. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7645
Lin FL, Vaughan TR, Vandewalker ML, Weber RW (1989) Hypereosinophilia, neurologic, and gastrointestinal symptoms after bee-pollen ingestion. J Allergy Clin Immunol 83:793–796. https://doi.org/10.1016/0091-6749(89)90016-x
Liu S, Ren Y, Wen D et al (2015) Prevalence and risk factors for COPD in greenhouse farmers: a large, cross-sectional survey of 5,880 farmers from northeast China. Int J Chron Obstruct Pulmon Dis 10:2097–2108. https://doi.org/10.2147/COPD.S79264
London L, Nell V, Thompson ML, Myers JE (1998) Effects of long-term organophosphate exposures on neurological symptoms, vibration sense and tremor among South African farm workers. Scand J Work Environ Health 24:18–29. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.274
Lundberg I, Högberg M, Michélsen H et al (1997) Evaluation of the Q16 questionnaire on neurotoxic symptoms and a review of its use. Occup Environ Med 54:343–350. https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.54.5.343
Madsen AM, White JK, Markouch A et al (2021) A cohort study of cucumber greenhouse workers’ exposure to microorganisms as measured using NGS and MALDI-TOF MS and biomarkers of systemic inflammation. Environ Res 192:110325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2020.110325
Negatu B, Vermeulen R, Mekonnen Y, Kromhout H (2018) Neurobehavioural symptoms and acute pesticide poisoning: a cross-sectional study among male pesticide applicators selected from three commercial farming systems in Ethiopia. Occup Environ Med 75:283–289. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2017-104538
Pedro Abreu J, Esteves J, Boncoraglio MT et al (2020) Cladosporium herbarum hot-tub lung hypersensitivity pneumonitis in a greenhouse worker. Eur J case reports Intern Med 7:1565. https://doi.org/10.12890/2020_001565
Rahimi T, Rafati F, Sharifi H, Seyedi F (2020) General and reproductive health outcomes among female greenhouse workers: a comparative study. BMC Womens Health 20:103. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-020-00966-y
Rémi J, Pollmächer T, Spiegelhalder K et al (2019) Sleep-related disorders in neurology and psychiatry. Dtsch Arztebl Int 116:681–688. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2019.0681
Richardson JR, Fitsanakis V, Westerink RHS, Kanthasamy AG (2019) Neurotoxicity of pesticides. Acta Neuropathol 138:343–362. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00401-019-02033-9
Sánchez-Santed F, Colomina MT, Herrero Hernández E (2016) Organophosphate pesticide exposure and neurodegeneration. Cortex 74:417–426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.10.003
Yan T, Yang S, Zhou X, et al (2022) Chronic kidney disease among greenhouse workers and field workers in China. Chemosphere 134905. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.134905
Zhang X, Wu M, Yao H et al (2016) Pesticide poisoning and neurobehavioral function among farm workers in Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China. Cortex 74:396–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2015.09.006
Zhu X, Gao P, Gu Y et al (2017) Positive rates and factors associated with abnormal lung function of greenhouse workers in China: a cross-sectional study. Int J Environ Res Public Health 14:1–12. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14090956
Acknowledgements
We thank Gansu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention and **gyuan County Center for Disease Control and Prevention for cooperation. We also thank all the solar greenhouse workers and field workers for information donation.
Funding
This study was supported by the Major Progressive Project of the Bei**g Institute of Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment President's Fund (ZFY2001001) and the Reform and Development Project of Bei**g Academy of Science and Technology (BJAST-RD-BMILP202103&08).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
TL Yan and XJ Zhu: study concept and design; TL Yan and XF Zhou: collecting the data; TL Yan, SW Yang, and CY Zhang: statistical analysis; TL Yan: drafting of the manuscript; XJ Zhu, WJ Ma, SC Tang, and J Li: revision of the manuscript for the language and intellectual content. All authors participated in drafting and finally approving of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The protocols were approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of National Center for Occupational Safety and Health, National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China (Record No. 2021006) and informed consent was obtained from each subject prior to being enrolled. And all methods were performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Lotfi Aleya
Publisher's note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Yan, T., Yang, S., Zhou, X. et al. Neurologic symptoms among solar greenhouse workers and field workers in China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 31916–31922 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24412-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24412-8