Institutional Ethics Committee clearance was obtained for collecting the human blood samples. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants prior to their inclusion in the study. The blood samples (5 ml) were collected from 70 male occupational pesticide sprayers on different farms and orchards and from 70 healthy males that have no previous or current exposure to pesticides. All the subjects were residents of Allahabad and Lucknow or its adjacent areas in North India. The groups of pesticides most commonly used by order of frequency were organophosphates (OPs), CMs, organochlorines and pyrethroids. The purpose of the study
was explained to all the participants and their consents were taken. A detailed questionnaire including demographic characteristics was recorded (Table 1). A complete health assessment of each participant was also performed during the sample collection. It is important to mention that the farmers included in the study
usually did not wear gloves or masks or any other protection devices during spraying the pesticides. They were having previous spraying experience of about
3–8 years. Average exposure duration for sprayers and farmers was 3–4 h/week. Mixing of chemicals with bare hands and leakages from the tanks of pesticide
during spraying operations were found to be very common for these individuals (Table 1).