In rural Egypt, one of the main activities of men is agricultural work, where pesticides are used to control insects and weeds. Pesticides have been classified as endocrine disrupting chemicals, which may lead to alterations in male reproductive and thyroid hormonal levels. Aim: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of chronic occupational pesticide exposure on thyroid and male reproductive hormones among agricultural workers. Methods: The study included eighty male agricultural workers from El-Shomoot village, Qalubia governorate. Forty non exposed males work at Banha Faculty of Medicine were selected as a control group. All participating workers were interviewed using a precomposed questionnaire and investigated by measuring the blood level of male reproductive hormones (LH, FSH, testosterone & estradiol) and thyroid hormones (TSH, T3 & T4) according to standard procedures. Results: The studied groups were matched as regard age, gender, marital status and smoking habits. In comparing the exposed and control groups according to the blood levels of studied hormones, the exposed group had significantly lower values of testosterone, T3, T4, and LH compared to the control group (p |
