The Incidence of the XRCC1 rs25487 and PON1 rs662 Polymorphisms in a Population from Central Brazil: Patterns in an Area with a High Level of Agricultural Activity.

In Brazil, high levels of agricultural activity are reflected in the consumption of enormous amounts of pesticides. The production of grain in Brazil has been estimated at 289.8 million tons in the 2022 harvest, an expansion of 14.7% compared with 2021. These advances are likely associated with a progressive increase in the occupational exposure of a population to pesticides. The Paraoxonase 1 gene (PON1) is involved in liver detoxification; the rs662 variant of this gene modifies the activity of the enzyme. The repair of pesticide-induced genetic damage depends on the protein produced by the X-Ray Repair Cross-Complementing Group 1 gene (XRCC). Its function is impaired due to an rs25487 variant. The present study describes the frequencies of the rs662 and rs25487 and their haplotypes in a sample population from Goiás, Brazil. It compares the frequencies with other populations worldwide to verify the variation in the distribution of these SNPs, with 494 unrelated individuals in the state of Goiás. The A allele of the rs25487 variant had a frequency of 26% in the Goiás population, and the modified rs662 G allele had a frequency of 42.8%. Four haplotypes were recorded for the rs25487 (G > A) and rs662 (A > G) markers, with a frequency of 11.9% being recorded for the A-G haplotype (both modified alleles), 30.8% for the G-G haplotype, 14.3% for the A-A haplotype, and 42.8% for the G-A haplotype (both wild-type alleles). We demonstrated the distribution of important SNPs associated with pesticide exposure in an area with a high agricultural activity level, Central Brazil.

Cancer and occupational exposure to pesticides: a bibliometric study of the past 10 years.

Occupational exposure to pesticides has been identified as a major trigger of the development of cancer. Pesticides can cause intoxication in the individuals who manipulate them through either inhalation, ingestion, or dermal contact. Given this, we investigated the association between the incidence of cancer and occupational exposure to pesticides through a bibliometric analysis of the studies published between 2011 and 2020, based on 62 papers selected from the Scopus database. The results indicated an exponential increase in the number of studies published over the past decade, with most of the research being conducted in the USA, France, India, and Brazil, although a further 17 nations were also involved in the research on the association between cancer and pesticides. The principal classes of pesticides investigated in relation to their role in intoxication and cancer were insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. The types of cancer reported most frequently were multiple myeloma, bladder cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, prostate cancer, leukemia, and breast cancer. Despite the known association between pesticides and cancer, studies are still relatively scarce in comparison with the global scale of the use of these xenobiotic substances, which is related to the increasing demand for agricultural products throughout the world.

Cultivated areas and rural workers' behavior are responsible for the increase in agricultural intoxications in Brazil? Are these factors associated?

In Brazil, the increased use of pesticides has caused several consequences such as mortality of non-target species, contamination of aquatic environments, and changes in biodiversity. Regarding humans, such products could increase the cases of poisoning, the number of different types of cancer, and also neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, especially in workers who occupationally handle pesticides. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the number of agricultural poisonings from 2007 to 2017 and if there is a correlation between harvested areas, and to analyze the possible factors that contribute to poisonings. Our results demonstrated an increase in poisonings by 8% and a correlation with the growth of the harvested area. We emphasize that other factors are also determinant for the increase of poisonings such as the absence or inappropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), the toxicity of mixtures, the mishandling, and the lack of information on how to use and spray such products. Among the circumstances about poisoning, we presented suicide attempts and accidental causes. We found that the area planted and harvested is also associated with the amount of poisoning; however, several other behavioral factors are also determinant for the growth of agricultural poisoning in Brazil.