Adverse health effects after low level exposure to organophosphates

In this edition, Pilkington et al report the results of an extensive epidemiological study of the relation between exposure to organophosphate pesticides, indices of change in peripheral nerve function, and neuropsychological abnormalities in United Kingdom sheep farmers and dippers. 5 The inevitable paucity of individual data on historical exposure was rectified by an ingenious method to estimate exposure. Mechanistic studies have suggested that long term effects of organophosphates may be mediated by cholinergic mechanisms or phosphorylation of neuronal protein sites, and other mechanisms may be important as genetic differences in detoxification enzymes and non-specific binding account for some of the variations between people in susceptibility to anticholinesterases.