Hyderabad: A scientist from Hyderabad has spearheaded a groundbreaking development aimed at discovering a fabric protecting farmers from harmful insecticides. With the growing demand to increase agriculture productivity to match the food needs of the world’s population, the use of Organophosphate(OP) insecticides has continuously increased over the last six decades. In India OP-based insecticides are 76% of the total pesticides, as compared to 44% globally, as per the research findings.
Praveen Kumar Vemula, a researcher at the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine in Bengaluru, has led a team to create an innovative fabric termed as ’Oxime-fabric’, designed for anti-insecticide suits and masks. Praveen Kumar vemula, alumnus of Osmania University, along with other researchers Mahendra K. Mohan, Ketan Thorat, Theja Parassini Puthiyapurayil,Omprakash Sunnapu, Sandeep Chandrashekharappa, Venkatesh Ravula, Rajamohammed Khader, Aravind Sankaranarayanan and Hadi Muhammad spearheaded the research.
The research paper titled “Oxime-functionalized anti-insecticide fabric reduces insecticide exposure through dermal and nasal routes, and prevents insecticide-induced neuromuscular dysfunction and mortality,” was published in Nature Communications journal. It is a multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research in all areas of the biological, health, physical, chemical, Earth, social, mathematical, applied, and engineering sciences. Papers published by the journal aim to represent important advances of significance to specialists within each field.
The study highlights the dangers of insecticide exposure through dermal and nasal routes, particularly for farmers who lack adequate protective gear. According to the research paper,“Farmers from South Asian countries spray insecticides without protective gear, which leads to insecticide exposure through dermal and nasal routes. Commonly used insecticides are from organophosphorus(OP) and carbamates classes. The lack of protective gear during spraying is causing direct exposure to insecticides through dermal and nasal routes,” as per the research findings.
As farmers in the field repeatedly get exposed to multiple doses of insecticides, which could cause adverse health effects. “Acetylcholinesterase plays a crucial role in controlling neuromuscular function. Organophosphate and carbamate insecticides inhibit acetylcholinesterase, which leads to severe neuronal/cognitive dysfunction, breathing disorders, loss of endurance, and death. To address this issue, an Oxime-fabric is developed by covalently attaching silyl-pralidoxime to the cellulose of the fabric. The Oxime-fabric, when stitched as a bodysuit and facemask,efficiently deactivates insecticides (organophosphates and carbamates) upon contact, preventing exposure through dermal and inhalation routes. The Oxime-fabric prevents insecticide-induced toxicity, mortality, neuronal damage, neuro-muscular dysfunction,and loss of endurance.
Furthermore, Researchers who tested the efficiency on the rats observed a 100% survival rate in rats when repeatedly exposed to organophosphate-insecticide through the Oxime-fabric, while no survival is seen when organophosphate-insecticide applied directly or through normal fabric. The Oxime-fabric is washable and reusable for at least 50 cycles, providing an affordable solution to prevent insecticide-induced toxicity and lethality among farmers.