Study on hearing loss and its relationship with work in pesticide-exposed tobacco growers

• Main Authors: Denise Maria Vaz Romano França, Diolen Conceição Barros Lobato, Elver Andrade Moronte, Guilherme Souza Cavalcanti de Albuquerque, Patricia Arruda Alcarás, Claudia Giglio de Oliveira Gonçalves, Adriana Bender Moreira de Lacerda
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: CEFAC Saúde e Educação
• Series: Revista CEFAC
• Subjects: damage assessment; agrochemicals; occupational health; hearing
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-18462020000300701&lng=en&tlng=en
• ISSN: 1516-1846; 1982-0216

ABSTRACT The Purpose of this case report is to present four cases of tobacco growers with hearing loss due to occupational exposure to pesticides. A qualitative case study comprising three cases of sensorineural hearing loss with causal nexus (Cases 1, 2 and 4), and one (Case 3) of sensorineural hearing loss compatible with ototoxicity by pesticides, with causal nexus mainly based on minor neuropsychiatric disorders. The sample was composed of rural workers with health problems, in working age, having started working early in life, exposed to various pesticides, including organophosphates. The auditory and neurovegetative symptoms reported were noise discomfort (n = 2), speech perception difficulty (n = 3), dizziness (n = 2), and imbalance (n = 2). The pure-tone audiometry revealed a sensorineural hearing loss in one or more high frequencies, and one of the cases presented alteration in the brainstem auditory evoked potentials. There is evidence, in this study, of an association between hearing loss and work in tobacco growers exposed to pesticides, with peripheral auditory damage in four cases, and central damage in one of them. Thus, the need for a complete audiological evaluation of pesticide-exposed populations is highlighted.