Occupational pesticide exposure is a potential risk for respiratory health effects. Most clinical studies on pesticide exposure were related to acute exposure, and only a few studies on chronic exposure have been conducted. This study investigated the chronic respiratory health status and the chronic effects of occupational pesticide exposures of farmers in Gyeonggi-do.

Surveys and pulmonary function tests were conducted on 1,697 farmers in 16 regions of Gyeonggi-do. The structured questionnaire included demographic characteristics, medical history, recent respiratory symptoms and diseases, and work-related conditions, and was conducted through one-on-one interviews. The prevalence of respiratory diseases was compared by the odds ratios (ORs) at 95% confidence intervals (CIs) estimated by logistic regression analysis. Additional multivariate logistic regression analysis was also conducted.

Pesticide work groups showed significant association with an obstructive pattern in the lung function test (unadjusted OR, 2.38; 95% CI, 1.17–5.52). Selected work-related variables of pesticide exposure were ‘start age,’ ‘cumulative duration,’ ‘mixing pesticides,’ and ‘protection(goggle).’ The obstructive pattern of lung function test showed significant associations with mixing pesticides (OR, 2.30; 95% CI,1.07–5.46), and protection (goggle) use (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.12–0.79).

Mixing two or more pesticides showed a significant association. Wearing goggles can be seen as an indicator of awareness of the protective equipment and proper wearing of protective equipment, and loss of pulmonary function can be prevented when appropriate protection is worn.

Repetitive hand use increases the risk of hand osteoarthritis (OA). This study aimed to investigate characteristics of and risk factors for hand OA in Korean women farmers.

This cross-sectional study included women farmers resident in Jeollanam-do, Korea. The participants were interviewed, and radiographs were taken of both hands. Radiological hand OA was defined based on the Osteoarthritis Research Society International imaging criteria of joint space narrowing or the presence of osteophytes. The participants were divided into age groups of < 60 and ≥ 60 years. Obesity was defined as body mass index of > 25 kg/m². Annual working time was divided into < 2,000, 2,000–2,999, and ≥ 3,000 hours. Agricultural working type was divided into rice farming and field farming. Robust Poisson regression was used to identify factors associated with radiographic hand OA, with adjustment for age, obesity, annual working time, and agricultural classification.

A total of 310 participants with a mean age of 58.1 ± 7.6 years, were enrolled. The prevalence of radiologically confirmed OA was 49.0%, with an OA prevalence of 39.4% the interphalangeal joint in the thumb (IP1). The prevalence of OA was higher in the distal interphalangeal joint than in the proximal interphalangeal, metacarpophalangeal, and carpometacarpal joints. The prevalence of OA varied by age, annual working time, and agriculture type.

Korean women farmers have a high prevalence of OA, particularly in the IP1 joints. OA is associated with age, working hours, and agriculture type.

Few studies have investigated the risk factors for lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration among hard physical workers involved in heavy lifting. In this study, we aimed to identify the characteristics of lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration and evaluate the relationship between collapsed lumbar disc and potential risk factors in farmers and fishers.

This study included 203 farmers (103 men and 100 women) and 166 fishers (95 men and 71 women) aged 40–69 years who had undergone lumbar magnetic resonance imaging and were enrolled in the Korea Farmer's Knee Cohort and the Jeonnam Fishers' Cohort. We evaluated each of the 5 lumbar discs using the Pfirrmann grading system and classified collapsed lumbar intervertebral disc (cLD) as a case with ≥ 1 grade 5 at any disc level. We investigated potential risk factors, such as gender, age, body mass index (BMI), working hours per day, working months per year, and cumulative heavy lifting working time (CLWT). The odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.

The prevalence of cLD was 19.8% (23.7% among fishers, 21.2% among fishers with farming, and 17.2% among farmers). cLD correlated with factors such as age and occupation. Gender, CLWT and the working time matrix were not significantly associated with cLD. The OR of cLD adjusted by gender, age, BMI, and working time matrix was 1.26 (95% CI: 0.69–2.30) for ≥ 5,000 hours CLWT compared to that for < 2,000 hours CLWT. The OR of cLD adjusted by gender, age, BMI, CLWT, and working time matrix was 2.08 (95% CI: 1.06–4.06) for fishers compared to that for farmers.

Heavy lifting did not show a significant association with cLD in farmers and fishers. However, there is possibility that fishers are at a higher risk of lumbar disc collapse than farmers.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a rare, neurodegenerative disease with various occupational and environmental risk factors. Exposure to specific pesticides contributes significantly to the incidence of PD. However, it is difficult to measure the level of pesticide exposure in workers. This study presents the first case recognized the work-relatedness between PD and pesticide exposure.

A 68-year-old male was diagnosed with PD after working with pesticides at a tomato greenhouse for 12 years and 5 months. From the results of a field study, it was reasonable to assume that the patient had been exposed to a significant level of various insecticides. In the present report, we described the first accepted case of work-relatedness between PD and exposure to pesticides. The evaluation was conducted using the following steps: we ruled out other possible risk factors including additional occupational history and personal risk factors, we assessed the work environment, surveyed possible exposures, found proper epidemiological evidence, and calculated the probability of causation. The work-relatedness was determined through the review of epidemiological evidence and estimation of exposure situation and level, and biological plausibility. We also decided work-relatedness based on the exposure of PD related pesticides with identified biologically plausible and the presumption that the exposure level would be high due to the working process.

In this case, the field study and epidemiological results supported the work-relatedness of PD and exposure to pesticides. Moreover, the results of previous studies have confirmed a causal relationship between exposure to pesticides and PD.

Several studies have reported a high prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee among agricultural workers. We investigated work-related factors that increase the risk of knee OA among Korean farmers.

Data were extracted from the Jeonnam Center for Farmer's Safety and Health survey, conducted between 2013 and 2015. The sample included 489 farmers (man 240, woman 249). We defined knee OA as radiographic knee OA (≥ Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2) with symptoms (≥ Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis, Korean version score 29.5). We considered covariates such as cumulative squatting working time (CSWT), cumulative heavy lifting working time (CLWT), body mass index (BMI), and history of knee injury. Odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for knee OA and adjusted for relevant covariates.

The results of multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that knee OA was correlated by factors such as sex, age, BMI, history of knee injury, CSWT, and CLWT. Particularly, CSWT > 20,000 hours (OR: 2.83; 95% CI: 1.35–5.92; reference < 10,000 hours) and CLWT > 5,000 hours (OR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.14–6.06; reference < 2,000 hours) were associated with an increased risk of knee OA after adjustment for covariates.

Squatting posture and heavy lifting associated with farm work might increase the risk of knee OA among Korean farmers.

Farmers are often exposed to dust, molds, pollen, animal products, insects, and chemicals. Accordingly, they have a high prevalence of respiratory and allergic diseases. Some studies have shown that farmers have a high prevalence of respiratory diseases and symptoms depending on where farmers work. The objective of the present study was to investigate whether certain types of agricultural workplaces are associated with the prevalence of allergic reactions in skin prick tests (SPTs) in South Korea.

A total of 149 farmers, grouped according to their workplaces in greenhouses, poultry houses, or outdoors, answered a self-reported questionnaire about the prevalence of respiratory diseases and symptoms. They were skin-tested using 12 allergens. The questionnaire and the prevalence of positive skin tests were determined for each of the participant groups, and the results were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression.

There were significant differences in the prevalence of allergic reactions to the SPT, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPDs) and asthma symptoms (wheezing) among the subgroups. The allergic reaction to SPT was the highest in greenhouse workers (30.9%), followed by poultry house workers (15.9%), and outdoor workers (8.1%). The prevalence of COPD was 6.8% in poultry house workers alone and not in other groups. The prevalence of wheezing was the highest at 9.1% in poultry house workers. According to the results of the logistic analysis, the prevalence of allergic reactions to SPT had positive correlations with the types of workplaces. Greenhouse workers had higher risk of SPT sensitization compared to outdoor workers (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 5.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.32–32.24). The prevalence of SPT positivity also had an association with the symptoms of sneezing, rhinorrhea, or nasal congestion (adjusted OR: 6.64, 95% CI: 2.06–23.63).

These data demonstrate that the types of workplaces were associated with the prevalence of allergic sensitization. This could be explained by the difference in the type or level of airborne exposures in each workplace. It is also likely that this was caused by differences between groups of individual factors such as age and BMI that influence SPT sensitization.

Female farmers have a high prevalence of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in South Korea. Femoral bowing has been reported to be related to KOA by increasing load on the mechanical axis. This study aimed to investigate factors related to femoral bowing in Korean female farmers.

We analyzed the legs of 264 female farmers registered with the Korea farmers' knee cohort of Jeonnam Center for Farmers' Safety and Health. A structured questionnaire was used to determine sociodemographic variables, agricultural career, cumulative squatting working time (CSWT), and cumulative heavy lifting working time. Femoral bone density was measured and Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grades were obtained from the knee radiographs. Mechanical axis angle (MAA), femoral bowing angle (FBA), anatomical lateral distal femoral angle (aLDFA), anatomical medial proximal tibial angle (aMPTA), and condylar-plateau angle (CPA) were measured. We examined the relationship between the FBA and related factors by using multiple linear regression.

The proportion of individuals with radiographic KOA (≥ KL grade 2) in this study was 37.9%. As KL grades increased, MAA, FBA, and CPA increased, whereas aLDFA and aMPTA decreased. FBA increased with age. Multiple linear regression analyses using FBA as a dependent variable showed relationship with higher age, lower height, higher BMI, lower bone mineral density, longer CSWT, and longer agricultural careers.

The results of this study suggest that external factors related to agricultural work in female farmers was associated with femoral bowing, in addition to internal factors such as age, bone density, height, and obesity.