Avaliação auditiva e citogenética de trabalhadores rurais do Pontal do Paranapanema – sp expostos a agroquímicos e tabagismo, isolados ou em combinação

Abstract

The growing increase in the use of agrochemicals by small and large rural producers has generated environmental impacts and in the health of the exposed population. Another relevant public health problem, whose adverse effects have been widely documented, is smoking. Studies have indicated that isolate exposure to these xenobiotics can lead to ototoxicity and genotoxicity. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the possible auditory and cytogenetic alterations in rural workers exposed to smoking and agrochemicals in isolation or in combination and to identify possible classification patterns of exposure groups. Were evaluated 127 workers of both sexes, with ages ranging from 18 to 39 years, divided into four groups: Control Group - CG; Group exposed to smoking - GT; Group exposed to agrochemicals - GA and Group exposed to the association between smoking and agrochemicals - GTA. Initially, a questionnaire was used to measure the exposure to the study compounds and general and auditory health. Auditory examinations (meatoscopy, conventional and high-frequency audiometry, logoaudiometry and imitanciometry) and cytogenetic evaluation (from cells of the bucal mucosa, stained by Giemsa method) were performed. The data were evaluated by the following pattern recognition algorithms Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Bayes Classifier (BAY) and Support Vector Machine (SVM). The results of the audiological evaluation demonstrated a lowering of high frequency thresholds, a higher incidence of descending type, type A tympanometry and absence of reflex of the stapedic muscle in the three exposed groups (GT, GA and GTA). In addition, these groups showed an increase in the total number of nuclear alterations and in the number of micronuclei, binucleate cells, karyotype, karynx, pycnotic cells and nuclear bud. The computational analysis did not recognize the GTA group as a real value, as with GT and GA in relation to GC, in which the data were distributed with standard and correctly classified. Therefore, it was concluded that exposure to agrochemicals and cigarettes, in isolation or in combination, has been shown to be potentially ototoxic and genotoxic. However, the concomitant use of xenobiotics did not lead to additive or potentiating effect.