Resumen en español

In Latin America, Colombia is in the third place in the consumption of pesticides, keeping in mind that Cordoba is a department which economy is based on the agriculture and ranching. This investigation aims to describe the occupational pesticide exposure, organophosphates, organochlorines, pyrethroids and carbamates, used in cotton growing in the Valley of Middle Sinu in Colombia.It was used a descriptive cross-sectional study, with non-probability snowball sampling, and Acetylcholinesterase levels were determined in blood samples from study participants (187 employees). Also, a structured survey and a medical examination to determine possible complications was applied. According to the analysis of the results, age range with the highest number was 35 to 45 years (28.8%), the 52.41% are linked to the General System of Social Security in Health, trades sprayer and harvester commonly practiced with 62.3% and 31 55% respectively, about 90.37% showed normal levels of acetylcholinesterase, whereas 9.63% showed levels below normal (probably due to overexposure). It was concluded that no matter the time, the process of poisoning may occur in acute or chronic way, the inhibition of cholinesterase is common , but there is no consistent relationship between this and the clinical status of the patient.