Occupational Exposure to Pesticides and the Occurrence of Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

Pesticides use has allowed an increase in food productivity. However, harmful effects on human health have been reported, such as mental illness, especially in the rural population. In this context, the present work systematically reviewed the literature on the occurrence of depressive and anxiogenic disorders in farmers occupationally exposed to pesticides. The guidelines recommended by PRISMA were adopted, using the PICO strategy. The platforms used for the search were PUBMED, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar, with works published since 2002 to 2020. The inclusion criteria adopted considered crosssectional and longitudinal studies, published only in English, whose investigation evaluated human exposure to pesticides and the occurrence of mental illness. After applying the inclusion filters, nine studies were selected. The combined studies reported that 5.681 farmers were occupationally exposed to pesticides. The main illnesses reported were depression and/or anxiety, accompanied by symptoms such as headaches, respiratory diseases, and mental fatigue. Despite the incidence of other factors such as cigarette use, lack of personal protective equipment, and socioeconomic components, occupational exposure to pesticides is directly associated with depression. It was also noted that the intensity, frequency, and duration of exposure if combined with the number of acute intoxications, potentiates the development of depressive conditions