Associação dos agentes ocupacionais para a saúde auditiva dos agricultores

Abstract

Association of occupational agents for farmers' hearing healOne of the most aggravating factors to the worker's hearing health is noise. Legally recognized as an otoagressor, it is present in several work environments, obfuscating other agents that also negatively influence the health of workers. Among these agents, there are pesticides and the natural ototoxic substances present in specific cultures such as tobacco growing, which is known to retain the products applied to it in all planting and harvesting phases, in addition to binding to substances already proven harmful to hearing health. . With the increase in concern for workers' health, it is essential that innovative researches are carried out in order to solidify and support regulatory standards in order to guarantee health and quality of life for workers. In this case, especially hearing health. In view of this, the objective of this study was to investigate and compare the hearing health and working environment conditions of farmers from different crops, tobacco growers and workers not exposed to pesticides. Three groups of workers were divided, GF with farmers who work with tobacco, GA with farmers of different cultures and GE workers without exposure to otoagressors. The methodology was divided into two stages: clinical assessment and environmental assessment. In the clinical evaluation, the procedures were specific interview, conventional pure tone audiometry (ATL), logoaudiometry, acoustic immittance measures, research on transient evoked otoacoustic emissions (EOA-t) and long latency auditory potential (P300). The environmental assessment included the specific interview, measurement of the sound pressure level in the work environment of the participants and survey of the agricultural inputs used in the different cultures. This battery of tests ensured the investigation of knowledge related to the occupational environment and hearing conditions at the peripheral and central levels. The results showed that the SG presented greater exposure to sound intensities; 12 pesticides have been identified, of these 8 are classified as highly or extremely toxic. The GA and GF groups had worse thresholds than the EG. The EOA-t demonstrated that the group that has greater hair cell functionality is GE followed by GA and GF. In the P 300, GA and GF presented greater difficulty to perform the test, as well as increased latencies. Conclusion: The class of farmers studied was not aware of side effects and the correct way of handling pesticides. The type of cultivation may interfere with the action of ototoxic agents in the worker's health, the SPL was not associated with the worst audiological findings and for this evaluation, the high frequency audiometry together with the P300 research seems to be effective for the early detection of occupational pathologies. There is an urgent need to implement preventive measures for this population.