title: Biomonitoring of Toxic Effects of Pesticides in Occupationally Exposed Individuals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Workers in pesticide manufacturing industries are constantly exposed to pesticides. Genetic biomonitoring provides an early identification of potential cancer and genetic diseases in exposed populations. The objectives of this biomonitoring study were to assess DNA damage through comet assay in blood samples collected from industry workers and compare these results with those of classical analytical techniques used for complete blood count analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Samples from controls (n = 20) and exposed workers (n = 38) from an industrial area in Multan, Pakistan, were subjected to various tests. Malathion residues in blood samples were measured by gas chromatography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The exposed workers who were employed in the pesticide manufacturing industry for a longer period (i.e., 13-25 years) had significantly higher DNA tail length (7.04 μm) than the controls (0.94 μm). Workers in the exposed group also had higher white blood cell and red blood cell counts, and lower levels of mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), MCH concentration, and mean corpuscular volume in comparison with normal levels for these parameters. Malathion was not detected in the control group. However, in the exposed group, 72% of whole blood samples had malathion with a mean value of 0.14 mg/L (range 0.01-0.31 mg/L).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found a strong correlation (R (2) = 0.91) between DNA damage in terms of tail length and malathion concentration in blood. Intensive efforts and trainings are thus required to build awareness about safety practices and to change industrial workers' attitude to prevent harmful environmental and anthropogenic effects.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arshad
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siddiqa
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Saddaf
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rashid
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Imran
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hashmi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan; Department of Chemistry and Earth Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
authors.forename: Muhammad Ali
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Awan
authors.affiliation: Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Muhammad Arif
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ali
keywords: DNA damage; comet assay; genotoxicity; hematological tests; malathion