Burnt sugarcane harvesting - cardiovascular effects on a group of healthy workers, Brazil

Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane. Harvest is predominantly manual, exposing workers to health risks: intense physical exertion, heat, pollutants from sugarcane burning. Panel study to evaluate the effects of burnt sugarcane harvesting on blood markers and on cardiovascular sy...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 7; no. 9; p. e46142
Main Authors:	Barbosa, Cristiane Maria Galvão, Terra-Filho, Mário, de Albuquerque, André Luis Pereira, Di Giorgi, Dante, Grupi, Cesar, Negrão, Carlos Eduardo, Rondon, Maria Urbana Pinto Brandão, Martinez, Daniel Godoy, Marcourakis, Tânia, dos Santos, Fabiana Almeida, Braga, Alfésio Luís Ferreira, Zanetta, Dirce Maria Trevisan, Santos, Ubiratan de Paula
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 27-09-2012 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Adult Agricultural Workers' Diseases - blood Agricultural Workers' Diseases - etiology Agricultural Workers' Diseases - physiopathology Air Pollutants, Occupational - analysis Air pollution Autonomic nervous system Blood Blood flow Blood Pressure Brazil Burning Cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular diseases Cardiovascular system Correlation analysis Creatine Creatine kinase Creatine Kinase - blood Demographic aspects Environmental risk Epidemiology Exercise physiology Exercise Test Forearm Glutathione Glutathione peroxidase Glutathione Peroxidase - blood Glutathione transferase Glutathione Transferase - blood Harvesting Health aspects Health care Health risks Heart Heart Rate Hospitals Humans Male Malondialdehyde Malondialdehyde - blood Markers Medicine Occlusion Occupational Exposure - adverse effects Occupational health Outdoor air quality Particulate Matter - analysis Peroxidase Physical fitness Physical training Physiological aspects Plethysmography Pollutants Prothrombin Time Public health Rehabilitation Risk factors Rural areas Saccharum - physiology Serum levels Sugar Sugarcane Sympathetic Nervous System - physiology Thrombin Time Urine Workers Brazil
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Summary:	Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane. Harvest is predominantly manual, exposing workers to health risks: intense physical exertion, heat, pollutants from sugarcane burning. Panel study to evaluate the effects of burnt sugarcane harvesting on blood markers and on cardiovascular system. Twenty-eight healthy male workers, living in the countryside of Brazil were submitted to blood markers, blood pressure, heart rate variability, cardiopulmonary exercise testing, sympathetic nerve activity evaluation and forearm blood flow measures (venous occlusion plethysmography) during burnt sugarcane harvesting and four months later while they performed other activities in sugar cane culture. Mean participant age was 31 ± 6.3 years, and had worked for 9.8 ± 8.4 years on sugarcane work. Work during the harvest period was associated with higher serum levels of Creatine Kinase - 136.5 U/L (IQR: 108.5-216.0) vs. 104.5 U/L (IQR: 77.5-170.5), (p = 0.001); plasma Malondialdehyde-7.5 ± 1.4 µM/dl vs. 6.9 ± 1.0 µM/dl, (p = 0.058); Glutathione Peroxidase - 55.1 ± 11.8 Ug/Hb vs. 39.5 ± 9.5 Ug/Hb, (p<0.001); Glutathione Transferase- 3.4±1.3 Ug/Hb vs. 3.0 ± 1.3 Ug/Hb, (p = 0.001); and 24-hour systolic blood pressure - 120.1 ± 10.3 mmHg vs. 117.0 ± 10.0 mmHg, (p = 0.034). In cardiopulmonary exercise testing, rest-to-peak diastolic blood pressure increased by 11.12 mmHg and 5.13 mmHg in the harvest and non-harvest period, respectively. A 10 miliseconds reduction in rMSSD and a 10 burst/min increase in sympathetic nerve activity were associated to 2.2 and 1.8 mmHg rises in systolic arterial pressure, respectively. Work in burnt sugarcane harvesting was associated with changes in blood markers and higher blood pressure, which may be related to autonomic imbalance.
Bibliography:	Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Conceived and designed the experiments: CMGB UPS. Performed the experiments: ALPA DDG CG CEN MUPBR DGM TM FAS. Analyzed the data: ALFB DMTZ. Wrote the paper: CMGB UPS ALPA DDG CG CEN MUPBR DGM TM ALFB DMTZ MT-F. Critically revised the manuscript: MT-F.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0046142