Abstract
Background: The exposure time to pollutants arising from burning sugarcane can lead to different responses in the systemic inflammatory profile of workers involved in sugarcane harvesting, causing multisystem alterations in the health of this population.
Aim: To evaluate the systemic inflammatory profile according to the exposure time to burning sugarcane during a sugar harvest.
Methods: 24 male sugarcane workers were divided into two groups: individuals who had worked less than ten harvests (G1; n = 13); and individuals who had worked more than ten harvests (G2; n = 11). Blood samples were collected for analysis of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, in addition to the total count of monocytes and neutrophils. All evaluations occurred during the pre-harvest (March), middle of harvest (July) and end of harvest (October), in 2014. During the harvesting activity, the concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) were recorded.
Results: The concentrations of PM2.5 in the middle (111.5 (96.42-122.5) µg/m3) and end of harvest (97.39 (36.39-131.9) µg/m3) were significantly higher compared to pre-harvest (28 (24-37.38) µg/m3; p<0.0001). The mean age of the G1 was 32.69 (10.0) years and the G2 45.27 (6.26) years. In the G2 there was a significant decrease in IL-8 concentration at the end of harvest compared to the middle of harvest (p=0.004). In addition, the neutrophil count in the G2 presented a significant decrease at the end of harvest compared to the middle of harvest (p=0.003).
Conclusion: We conclude that sugarcane workers exposed to more than ten harvests demonstrate decreases in IL-8 concentration and neutrophil at the end of the harvest period.
- Copyright ©the authors 2016
