Asia Pacific Environmental and Occupational Health Journal

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between skin exposure and skin symptoms among paddy farmers in Tanjung Karang

Method: Tinopal (CBX-S) was used as fluorescent tracer to trace the pesticide contaminant on the respondents’ bodies. There were 2 types of scores that were used to quantify the dermal exposures, namely the Exposure Evaluation Matrix (EEM) and Determinants of Dermal Exposure Ranking Method (DERM).A self-constructed questionnaire was also used to record the socio-demographic background and the skin symptoms of the respondents.

Result: The results showed that therewas no significant association between the dermal score with skin symptoms among the exposed group (p-value>0.05). Thehighest prevalence of body part exposed were right fingers (36.6%) and back of the thorax (35.2%).Itchiness was the most common symptom reported among the respondents (20%), followed by skin redness (10.5%).

Conclusion: There was no significant association between skin symptom and dermal exposure scores among the exposed group. However, statistics showed that rashes had significant relationship with selected variables such as smoking and hourly work duration.

Keywords: Paddy Farmer, Skin Symptoms, Dermal Exposure, EEM, DERM