1.Working Hours and Personal Protective Equipment Effect on Blood Cholinesterase Levels of Tobacco Plantation Workers
Prehatin Trirahayu Ningrum ; Globila Nurika ; Abdullah Al Mamun ; Ellyke ; Isa Ma&rsquo ; rufi ; Rahayu Sri Pujiati ; Anita Dewi Moelyaningrum ; Ragil Ismi Hartanti ; Reny Indrayani ; Kurnia Ardiansyah Akbar ; Edza Aria Wikurendra
Malaysian Journal of Medicine and Health Sciences 2024;20(No.1):78-83
Introduction: Tobacco production is increasing in certain regions of Indonesia due to its high economic value.
Tobacco and its products can have harmful effects on the health of consumers, producers and processing workers.
Analysis of blood samples has shown that tobacco farmers are at risk of developing occupational diseases related to
pesticide exposure and nicotine absorption through the epidermis of wet tobacco leaves. The aim of this study was
to compare blood cholinesterase levels in tobacco plantation workers in relation to their working hours and use of
personal protective equipment (PPE). Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in ten subdistricts in Jember district, Indonesia, and included 50 participants selected using proportional sampling. Spearman’s
test was used to analyse the relationship between variables. Results: The significance value of the relationship based
on Spearman’s test between working hours and blood cholinesterase levels of tobacco farmers in Jember was 0.058
> α (0.05). Meanwhile, the significance value of the relationship between working hours and complete blood count,
specifically mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), was 0.00 < α (0.05), and between PPE use and
blood cholinesterase levels was 0.035 < α (0.05). Conclusion: Working hours were not associated with blood cholinesterase levels, but were associated with blood MCHC levels. Meanwhile, the use of PPE was found to be associated
with cholinesterase levels in tobacco farmers.