Efectos respiratorios y alérgicos por la exposición a mezclas de plaguicidas en trabajadores agrícolas de Zarcero, Costa Rica.

In Costa Rica, most of farm workers apply a lot of highly dangerous pesticides on their crops, leaving
out the safety and hygiene standards required for their preparation and application. Previous
epidemiological studies have found that occupational exposure to pesticides, mainly
organophosphates and carbamates, is linked to an increased risk of respiratory symptoms such as
wheezing, chronic cough, shortness of breath; and respiratory and allergic outcomes such as
asthma, chronic bronchitis, and rhinitis. It is relevant to study the potential adverse effects of
pesticides on the respiratory and allergic health of farm workers, since the agricultural sector is the
second most important employment sector in the country, occupying 13.4% of the total working
population. Most of previous studies have not taken into account the potential correlation between
pesticides in complex mixtures or the combined effects of pesticides (additives, synergists or
antagonists), so the associations reported with respiratory and allergic effects could be biased. This
study aims to examine the respiratory and allergic health effects associated with simultaneous
occupational exposure to a broad range of pesticides from conventional and organic farms in Zarcero
County, Costa Rica, using Bayesian hierarchical logistic regression models to examine the
associations with the respiratory and allergic effects of exposure to complex mixtures of correlated
pesticides.

Examinar la asociación entre la exposición a mezclas de plaguicidas y
los efectos respiratorios y alérgicos en trabajadores agrícolas de Zarcero, Costa Rica.

Esta propuesta se relaciona con la línea de investigación de Higiene Ocupacional, de la Escuela
de Ingeniería en Seguridad Laboral e Higiene Ambiental.