Exposición a organofosforados y desempe？o cognitivo en escolares rurales chilenos: un estudio exploratorio

objective: to evaluate the presence of organophosphate metabolites (op) in the urine of rural schoolchildren and estimate its association with their cognitive performance. methodology: a cross-sectional exploratory study in which a total of 25 children were assessed. cognitive functioning was measured using the wisc-iii intelligence test. additionally, the concentration of op metabolites in their urine was tested. results: 56% of the children had concentration levels above the detection limit for dimethylphosphate (dmp) and dimethyltiophosphate (dmtp). moreover, 92% of them had the metabolite diethylphosphate (dep) values on this limit. regarding the wisc-iii, the intelligence quotient (iq) values below the average (iq > 90) correspond to: total iq = 60% performance iq = 64%, verbal iq = 52%, perceptual organization iq = 60%, processing speed iq = 95%, and freedom from distractibility iq = 64%. an inverse association was found between the processing speed factor and dmtp (rs = -0.44, p = 0.014). conclusions: results indicate that the rural schoolchildren whose urine was measured with op metabolite biomarkers had been exposed to op pesticides. a relationship was observed between the presence of op metabolites and the cognitive performance factor of the wisc-iii test. we believe it is appropriate to evaluate the effects of the presence of op metabolites on cognitive functioning in a larger sample, while considering other exposure variables.