Pesticide Exposure in Agricultural Workplaces and Resultant Health Effects in Women

Numerous occupational studies have highlighted the risk of cancer associated with agricultural practices and exposure to agrochemicals in males and females in the workplace. Women working in tea plantations/gardens often face educational, health, and socioeconomic challenges. They may be particularly vulnerable to the pesticide exposure owing to a lack of health awareness and education, other limitations and environmental and occupational factors.

The objective of the review was to highlight the problem of pesticide exposure in women working in tea plantations/gardens through a comprehensive appraisal of published literature.

Literature searches were performed using a range of keywords such as pesticide exposure to women, adverse birth outcomes, tea plantations/gardens, placental outcomes, cancer, and so forth using online search engines, including PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and so on.

This review reports that women are frequently exposed to pesticides during tea leaf plucking activities in tea plantations/gardens, which may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes and may result in altered function of the placenta, fetal growth restrictions, low birth weight (LBW) of babies, and sex-specific differences in the fetal development. These adverse effects may pose a potential risk of poor health, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and congenital birth defects leading to neurobehavioral disorders in childhood, and even cancer later in life.

The adverse effects of pesticide exposure on pregnancy and the fetus in tea plantation workers were explained through the available epidemiological data and animal studies. The mechanism of toxicity due to pesticide exposure during pregnancy may involve the disruption of signaling pathway, leading to placental toxicity, and restricted fetal development.

Considering limited epidemiological, biomonitoring, and pathological data on pesticide exposure in women working in tea plantations/gardens, there is an urgent need for well-designed cohort studies to delineate its consequences on reproductive health, pregnancy outcomes, and adverse effects in offspring.