[Peripheral and central auditory effects of pesticide exposure: a systematic review].

The World Health Organization reports a total of 3 million annual cases of acute pesticide poisoning (2.1 million cases in the developing countries alone). Pesticide use has reached alarming proportions in Brazil in the last decade. Pesticide sales skyrocketed from 2001 to 2008, making Brazil the world's leading consumer of poisons. This study aimed to assess whether pesticide exposure causes peripheral or central auditory disorders and thus focused on the importance of hearing tests in populations with acute or chronic exposure. This was a systematic review of studies on the effects of pesticide exposure on the auditory system. The context and methodological quality of the full texts were analyzed. The review identified 143 studies on the theme, 16 of which met the inclusion criteria. All articles showed that pesticide exposure is ototoxic and leads to hearing loss.