Pesticide has been imported to Thailand for several years including insecticide, herbicide, and others coinciding
with the expansion of the country’s agricultural system. Among these chemicals are organophosphate and carbamate the
groups of chemicals primarily used in agriculture. Exposure to these pesticides can cause harmful effect on human health. This
study aims to find health effects of organophosphate and carbamate pesticides exposure and to assess to blood cholinesterase
levels of acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) and plasma cholinesterase (PChE) in dry-season crops, among rice farmers (n=33) in
Tarnlalord Sub-District, Phimai District, Nakhon Ratchasima Province, Thailand. The design of this study was a
cross-sectional study with questionnaire by face to face interview and blood-tests by Test-mate ChE (Model 400) instruments.
The average age (± SD) of the study was 46 ± 9.38 years old. The results showed the ChE levels in rice farmers including (1)
the first blood collection, 24 hours after application, 72.70% of the farmers were abnormal (2). The farmers reported their
adverse health effects related to gastrointestinal system, urinary system, eye, skin, and central nervous system. Additionally,
the AChE level within 24 hours after first application was significantly associated to eye symptoms (Chi-square, p<0.05). This
study showed that after the rice farmers applied pesticides at the beginning, both AChE and PChE levels were abnormal with
self-recovery to normal levels by time. The appropriated self-practices and prevention from pesticides exposure should be
recommended to rice farmer regarding proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and pesticides handling to reduce
adverse health effects from pesticides exposure.