Publications by authors named "Albert Atabila"

The current epidemiological transition of diseases in Ghana necessitates understanding their burden and the associated context-specific risk factors to inform disease prevention strategies. To determine the prevalence and determinants of selected Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) among patients seeking healthcare services in a secondary health facility in Ghana. A facility-based survey was conducted among adult patients 18 years and above between May and July 2021, using a multi-stage sampling approach.

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Pesticides play an important role in agricultural development. However, pesticide application can result in both acute and chronic human toxicities, and the adverse effects of pesticides on the environment and human health remain a serious problem. There is therefore a need to discuss the application methods for pesticides, the routes of pesticide exposure, and the health risks posed by pesticide application.

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Pymetrozine is one of the most commonly used insecticides in China. This study was conducted to analyse Pymetrozine's potential exposures through various environmental routes beyond the treatment areas. The aim was to estimate the potential health risk for communities due to non-dietary exposures to Pymetrozine in soil and paddy water.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Pymetrozine has replaced harmful organophosphate pesticides for rice pest control in China, but previous studies often relied on artificial plots that didn't reflect real-world conditions.
  • - To better understand pymetrozine's behavior, researchers conducted field studies in Hunan and Guangxi provinces, using the QuEChERS method and advanced mass spectrometry to analyze soil and water samples after spraying.
  • - The results showed pymetrozine residues decay quickly in both paddy soil and water, with half-lives of about 3ā€“4 days, indicating it has low environmental persistence compared to older pesticides, which is significant for agricultural practices worldwide.
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Human health risk assessments of exposures to non-carcinogenic occupational and environmental toxicants have mostly been undertaken using the Hazard Quotient (HQ) approach, which largely ignores variabilities in both exposures and associated adverse health outcomes, unlike probabilistic approaches. Chlorpyrifos is a neurotoxic insecticide that is commonly applied by farmers in Ghana with limited research on associated health risks among applicators. The objective of this study was to assess health risks associated with chlorpyrifos exposure among applicators on rice farms in Ghana, using advanced probabilistic approaches that incorporate variability in both exposure doses and adverse response doses obtained from human epidemiological studies.

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Chlorpyrifos is one of the most widely used organophosphate pesticides and has a record of adverse effects on applicators. Assessment of exposure to chlorpyrifos based on its urinary metabolite, 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP), is considered as the most accurate. However, urine sampling can be difficult, and the laboratory analytical procedures involved are complex and expensive.

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Chlorpyrifos is a neurotoxic insecticide that is widely used in the agricultural sector of Ghana. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the levels of chlorpyrifos exposure and health risk among applicators (nā€‰=ā€‰21) on irrigated rice farms in Ghana, based on a typical application event. Pre- and post-application urine samples (24-h) were collected from the applicators and analysed for 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP), using LC-MS/MS.

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Generally, there is limited information on pesticide absorbed dose levels and health risk attributable to the dermal route of exposure among applicators. The objective of this study was to evaluate the absorbed dose levels and consequent health risk from dermal exposure to chlorpyrifos among applicators on rice farms in Ghana. The whole-body dosimetry technique was used to capture chlorpyrifos residues penetrating the applicators' clothing and reaching their skin, as well as residues reaching uncovered body areas of the applicators.

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Studies evaluating dermal exposure to pesticides among applicators in tropical countries have largely been conducted using the patch dosimetry and hand wiping/washing techniques. This study used the more accurate whole-body dosimetry technique to evaluate dermal exposure to chlorpyrifos among applicators on rice farms in Ghana. The exposure levels were plotted as Cumulative Probability Distribution (CPD).

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