Differences Between Rainy and Dry Seasons in Levels of Cholinesterase Activities and Psychological Distress due to Organophosphate Exposure among Farmworkers
Abstract
This study compared mean of erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase (EAChE) and plasma cholinesterase (PChE) activity levels, and levels of psychological distress due to organophosphate (OP) exposure between rainy and dry seasons among farmworkers. This was a longitudinal study conducted in rainy and dry seasons on 30 farmworkers at a village in Brebes Regency, Indonesia. These EAChE and PChE levels were measured from 10µL fingerprick blood samples using the Test-mate ChE field kit. Meanwhile, psychological distress levels were measured by a 10-item questionnaire developed by Kessler et al. (2002). Mean EAChE activity levels in rainy season (29.45 ± 3.68 U/g Hb) were higher than in dry season (26.33 ± 3.69 U/g Hb) (p<0.05). In contrast, mean PChE activity levels in dry season (1.62 ± 0.50 U/mL) were slightly higher than in rainy season (1.61 ± 0.39 U/mL). Most of the farmworkers felt some symptoms of psychological distress both in rainy and dry season measurements. In addition, majority of them were categorized suffering from mental disorders in both measurements. However, the difference of EAChE and PChE activity levels between rainy and dry seasons could be related to the time elapsed since last exposure. A proportion of the research participants suffered from mental disorders in the dry season was higher than that of in the rainy season. The difference of psychological
distress levels between both seasons might be related to other external factors like high temperature, high humidity, or economic factors and not to the last OP application.
Keywords: Erythrocyte acetylcholinesterase; farmworkers; organophosphate; plasma cholinesterase; psychological distress.
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