[Occupational and environmental exposure to anilide and dicarboximide pesticides]. / Esposizione ambientale e professionale a pesticidi propionanilidici e dicarbossimidici.

Dicarboximide fungicides (DF) such as vinclozolin, iprodione, procymidone are widely used on vines, fruit and vegetables, and anilide herbicides (AH) such as diuron, linuron, propanil are used to control weeds on hard surfaces, such as, roads, railway tracks, paths, and in crops, forestry. Italian reports on food safety found many samples contaminated by pesticides belonging to these categories, even though only few exceeding L.M.R. Since adverse effects on human health, such as endocrine disruption, have been reported, biological monitoring is essential for exposure assessment both of occupationally exposed subjects and of the general population. Common metabolites of DF and AH are dichloroanilinines such as 3,4-DCA and 3,5-DCA, urine samples from 153 subjects living in Novafeltria, central Italy, were collected for analysis of 3,4- and 3,5-DCAs, each participant was invited to complete a very detailed questionnaire. A total of 151 out of 153 samples were found to be positive for 3,5-DCA, and 81.7% were positive for 3,4-DCA. Also 33 workers, engaged in application of propanil on rice in northern Italy, were involved in the study and 3,4-DCA was determined as marker of exposure. 3,4 and 3,5 dichloroaniline are useful and promising biological indicators for monitoring occupational and environmental exposure to these classes of pesticides.

[Evaluation and management of pesticide risk in agriculture: the experience of the Region of Lombardy (Italy)]. / Valutazione e gestione del rischio da antiparassitari in agricoltura: l'esperienza della Regione Lombardia.

The evaluation of chemical risk in agriculture is complicated because of difficulties in obtaining measures representative of working conditions. This is the reason why experiences finalized at producing risk estimates are running. In this frame, a Regional working group has developed the project "Pesticide exposure and risk profiles in agriculture". Priority scenarios have been selected and the main variables correlated with pesticide exposure have been pointed out. A value for each variable has been defined. The sum of these values allows the definition of "Exposure Indices" (EI), which can be reduced by multiplication for a coefficient calculated based on use of personal protective devices, training and education and equipment conditions. A Risk Index is calculated as the product of EI per a toxicity index, calculated based on the risk phrases of the substances used ("Risk Profile"). Risk Profiles allow the production of risk estimates and the definition of the appropriate preventive interventions. Next phase will be addressed at the validation of the model, to be carried out through the determination of the levels of concordance between the risk class allocation obtained from the model and the one obtained from environmental and biological measures, in the same groups of workers.

Ethylenethiourea in urine as an indicator of exposure to mancozeb in vineyard workers.

In the present study, the personal exposure to mancozeb and/or ethilenethiourea (ETU) in 13 Italian vineyard workers and in 13 subjects without occupational exposure to pesticides was investigated. With this aim, the level of ETU in urine and the dermal exposure to mancozeb were determined. Baseline urinary ETU results were lower than the analytical limit of detection for all controls (<0.5 microg/g creatinine) and for ten workers (median <0.5, range <0.5-3.4 microg/g creatinine). In workers, urinary ETU was significantly increased at the end of shift (2.5, <0.5-95.2 microg/g creatinine) compared with baseline levels. End-shift urinary ETU was higher in operators using open tractors (n=7) than in those using closed tractors (n=5) (16.2 vs. 2.4 microg/g creatinine), but the difference was not significant (P=0.073). End-shift urinary ETU was positively correlated with dermal exposure to mancozeb determined both over the clothes and on the skin (Spearman's rho=0.770 and 0.702, P=0.009 and 0.024, respectively). Wine consumption positively influenced the excretion of ETU.

Effects of ganglioside therapy on experimental CS2 neuropathy.

Both in animals and in man the inhalation of CS2 vapor induces a chronic polyneuropathy with primary lesions in the axons of peripheral nerves. Since it was reported in several studies that the administration of gangliosides improves nerve regeneration and the functional recovery of nerves damaged by section as well as cryodegeneration, a study was undertaken to evaluate the effects of bovine-brain gangliosides administration on the experimental CS2 neuropathy in the rat. One hundred and fifty male rats were intoxicated with CS2 by a discontinuous inhalation exposure to 700 ppm for 12 weeks until a clear neuropathy developed. Thereafter the animals were subdivided at random into five groups and treated in different ways: 10 mg/kg BW gangliosides, 0.5 mg/kg gangliosides, 0.5 mg/kg vitamin B1, and 1 mg/kg vitamin B6, physiological solution, and controls without any treatment. The recovery from neuropathy was controlled for 18 weeks of treatment and assessed periodically by means of clinical, electromyographic, and morphological examination. The results of morphological studies showed more pronounced regeneration activity in the rats treated with the high dose of gangliosides than in all others, while no differences among the groups could be observed as far as clinical and neurophysiological parameters are concerned. The mechanism supporting this ganglioside-induced effect has so far not been ascertained, and further studies on this subject are in progress.