Agricultural pesticide exposure and the molecular connection to lymphomagenesis.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Agopian J
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2715093 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Agricultural pesticide exposure and the molecular connection to lymphomagenesis.
Agopian Julie J Navarro Jean-Marc JM Gac Anne-Claire AC Lecluse Yannick Y Briand Mélanie M Grenot Pierre P Gauduchon Pascal P Ruminy Philippe P Lebailly Pierre P Nadel Bertrand B Roulland Sandrine S
The Journal of experimental medicine 20090608 7
The t(14;18) translocation constitutes the initiating event of a causative cascade leading to follicular lymphoma (FL). t(14;18) translocations are present in blood from healthy individuals, but there is a trend of increased prevalence in farmers exposed to pesticides, a group recently associated with higher risk of t(14;18)(+) non-Hodgkin's lymphoma development. A direct connection between agricultural pesticide use, t(14;18) in blood, and malignant progression, however, has not yet been demons ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundMany pesticides are known to have thyroid-disrupting properties. However, few studies have evaluated the association between specific pesticide ingredients and risk of thyroid cancer. We investigated self-reported pesticide use and incident thyroid cancer in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a large cohort of occupationally-exposed male pesticide applicators.MethodsThe AHS is a prospective cohort of licensed pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina. At enrollment (1993-1997) and follow-up (1999-2005), participants reported use of 50 pesticides. We characterized exposure as ever use (44 pesticides with ≥5 exposed cases) and by cumulative intensity-weighted lifetime days (22 pesticides with ≥10 exposed cases), a metric that accounts for factors that influence exposure. We estimated hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Cox regression for incident thyroid (n = 85 cases) cancer among male participants using follow-up through 2014/2015.ResultsUse of the fungicide metalaxyl (HR = 2.03, CI:1.16-3.52) and the organochlorine insecticide lindane (HR = 1.74, CI:1.06-2.84) was associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer. The herbicide chlorimuron-ethyl was inversely associated with risk when we restricted to papillary thyroid cancer, the most common subtype (HR = 0.52, CI:0.28-0.96). High use of the insecticide carbaryl (>median intensity-weighted days) was inversely associated with thyroid cancer (HR = 0.20, CI:0.08-0.53, ptrend = 0.001).ConclusionsIn this large cohort study, we observed increased risk of thyroid cancer associated with use of metalaxyl and lindane, and an inverse association with carbaryl. More work is needed to understand the potential role of these chemicals in thyroid carcinogenesis.
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Project description:BackgroundPesticide exposure may be positively associated with depression. Few previous studies have considered the episodic nature of depression or examined individual pesticides.ObjectiveWe evaluated associations between pesticide exposure and depression among male private pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study.MethodsWe analyzed data for 10 pesticide classes and 50 specific pesticides used by 21,208 applicators enrolled in 1993-1997 who completed a follow-up telephone interview in 2005-2010. We divided applicators who reported a physician diagnosis of depression (n = 1,702; 8%) into those who reported a previous diagnosis of depression at enrollment but not follow-up (n = 474; 28%), at both enrollment and follow-up (n = 540; 32%), and at follow-up but not enrollment (n = 688; 40%) and used polytomous logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs. We used inverse probability weighting to adjust for potential confounders and to account for the exclusion of 3,315 applicators with missing covariate data and 24,619 who did not complete the follow-up interview.ResultsAfter weighting for potential confounders, missing covariate data, and dropout, ever-use of two pesticide classes, fumigants and organochlorine insecticides, and seven individual pesticides-the fumigants aluminum phosphide and ethylene dibromide; the phenoxy herbicide (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)acetic acid (2,4,5-T); the organochlorine insecticide dieldrin; and the organophosphate insecticides diazinon, malathion, and parathion-were all positively associated with depression in each case group, with ORs between 1.1 and 1.9.ConclusionsOur study supports a positive association between pesticide exposure and depression, including associations with several specific pesticides.
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Project description:Pesticide exposure has been associated with acute and chronic adverse health effects. DNA methylation (DNAm) may mediate these effects. We evaluated the association between experiencing unusually high pesticide exposure events (HPEEs) and DNAm among pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a prospective study of applicators from Iowa and North Carolina. DNA was extracted from whole blood from male AHS pesticide applicators (n = 695). Questionnaire data were used to ascertain the occurrence of HPEEs over the participant's lifetime. Pyrosequencing was used to quantify DNAm in CDH1, GSTp1, and MGMT promoters, and in the repetitive element, LINE-1. Linear and robust regression analyses evaluated adjusted associations between HPEE and DNAm. Ever having an HPEE (n = 142; 24%) was associated with elevated DNAm in the GSTp1 promoter at CpG7 (chr11:67,351,134; P < 0.01) and for the mean across the CpGs measured in the GSTp1 promoter (P < 0.01). In stratified analyses, elevated GSTP1 promoter DNAm associated with HPEE was more pronounced among applicators >59 years and those with plasma folate levels ≤16.56 ng/mL (p-interaction <0.01); HPEE was associated with reduced MGMT promoter DNAm at CpG2 (chr10:131,265,803; P = 0.03), CpG3 (chr10:131,265,810; P = 0.05), and the mean across CpGs measured in the MGMT promoter (P = 0.03) among applicators >59 years and reduced LINE-1 DNAm (P = 0.05) among applicators with ≤16.56 ng/mL plasma folate. Non-specific HPEEs may contribute to increased DNAm in GSTp1, and in some groups, reduced DNAm in MGMT and LINE-1. The impacts of these alterations on disease development are unclear, but elevated GSTp1 promoter DNAm and subsequent gene inactivation has been consistently associated with prostate cancer. Environ. Mol. Mutagen. 58:19-29, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Project description:Pesticide exposure is linked to Parkinson's disease, a neurodegenerative disorder marked by dopamine cell loss in the substantia nigra of the basal ganglia (BG) that often presents asymmetrically. We previously reported that pesticide-exposed agricultural workers (AW) have nigral diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) changes. The current study sought to confirm this finding, and explore its hemisphere and regional specificity within BG structures using an independent sample population. Pesticide exposure history, standard neurological exam, high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (T1/T2-weighted and DTI), and [123I]ioflupane SPECT images (to quantify striatal dopamine transporters) were obtained from 20 AW with chronic pesticide exposure and 11 controls. Based on median cumulative days of pesticide exposure, AW were subdivided into high (AWHi, n?=?10) and low (AWLo, n?=?10) exposure groups. BG (nigra, putamen, caudate, and globus pallidus [GP]) fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and striatal [123I]ioflupane binding in each hemisphere were quantified, and compared across exposure groups using analysis of variance. Left, but not right, nigral and GP FA were significantly lower in AW compared with controls (p's < .029). None of the striatal (putamen and caudate) DTI or [123I]ioflupane binding measurements differed between AW and controls. Subgroup analyses indicated that significant left nigral and GP DTI changes were present only in the AWHi (p ? .037) but not the AWLo subgroup. AW, especially those with higher pesticide exposure history, demonstrate lateralized microstructural changes in the nigra and GP, whereas striatal areas appear relatively unaffected. Future studies should elucidate how environmental toxicants cause differential lateralized- and regionally specific brain vulnerability.
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Project description:BackgroundThe occupation of farming has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA); pesticides may account for this association, but there are few studies.ObjectivesWe investigated associations between RA and use of pesticides in the Agricultural Health Study.MethodsThe study sample was drawn from male pesticide applicators enrolled in 1993–1997 who provided questionnaire data at baseline and at least once during follow-up (over a median 18 y; interquartile range 16–19). Incident RA cases (n=220), confirmed by physicians or by self-reported use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, were compared with noncases (n=26,134) who did not report RA. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using logistic regression, adjusting for enrollment age, state, smoking pack-years, and education. We evaluated the association of RA with the use of 46 pesticides and across 4 levels (never use and tertiles) of lifetime days of use for 16 pesticides with OR?1.2 for ever use.ResultsIncident RA was associated with ever use of fonofos (OR = 1.70; 95% CI: 1.22, 2.37), carbaryl (OR = 1.51; 95% CI: 1.03, 2.23), and chlorimuron ethyl (OR = 1.45; 95% CI: 1.01, 2.07) compared with never use. Statistically significant exposure–response trends in association with RA were observed for lifetime days of use of atrazine [ORtertile3= 1.62 (95% CI: 1.09, 2.40); ptrend=0.01] and toxaphene [ORtertile3= 2.42 (95% CI: 1.03, 5.68); ptrend=0.02]. Exposure–response was nonlinear for fonofos [ORtertile1= 2.27 (95% CI: 1.44, 3.57); ORtertile2= 0.98 (95% CI: 0.54, 1.80); ORtertile3= 2.10 (95% CI: 1.32, 3.36); ptrend=0.005] and suggestive for carbaryl (ptrend=0.053).ConclusionsOur results provide novel evidence of associations between exposure to some pesticides and RA in male farmers. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP1013.
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Project description:ObjectiveThere is a relationship between pesticide exposure and farmworkers' health. Well-conducted evaluations can provide an insight into how to develop and implement more effective interventions to prevent farmers and farmworkers' exposure to pesticides. This review aimed to summarize the literature on the effectiveness of interventions to promote pesticide safety and reduce pesticide exposure among farmers and farmworkers.MethodsA comprehensive search on PubMed, Embase, ISI Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, Agricola, NIOSHTIC, and Agris databases was performed to identify relevant studies published from 2000 to 2019. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies assessing the effectiveness of interventions on a variety of outcomes related to pesticide exposure were considered. The searches were restricted to articles written in English. The methodological quality of included reviews was appraised using the Effective Public Health Practice Project quality assessment tool (EPHPP).ResultsThe initial search led to 47912 records, 31 studies of which including nine RCTs and twenty-two quasi-experimental studies met the criteria. The majority of the included studies focused on the educational/ behavioral approach. The studies that applied this approach were effective in improving the participants' knowledge and attitude; however, these interventions were less effective in terms of making changes in participants' behaviors and their risk of exposure to toxic pesticides. Multifaceted interventions were moderately effective in terms of improving farmers' and farmworkers' behaviors and reduction in exposure to toxic pesticides. We did not find any studies that had evaluated the effectiveness of engineering/technological, and legislation/enforcement interventions.ConclusionsAlthough the majority of studies were based on an educational/behavioral approach and did not assess the effect of interventions on objective measures, the results of this review highlight the significant effectiveness of educational programs and some potential key elements of these interventions. These findings may inform policymakers to develop interventions to reduce pesticide exposure among farmers and farmworkers.
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Project description:BackgroundIn a longitudinal birth cohort study of inner-city mothers and children (Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health), we have previously reported that prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos (CPF) was associated with neurodevelopmental problems at 3 years of age.ObjectiveThe goal of the study was to estimate the relationship between prenatal CPF exposure and neurodevelopment among cohort children at 7 years of age.MethodsIn a sample of 265 children, participants in a prospective study of air pollution, we measured prenatal CPF exposure using umbilical cord blood plasma (picograms/gram plasma) and 7-year neurodevelopment using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4th edition (WISC-IV). Linear regression models were used to estimate associations, with covariate selection based on two alternate approaches.ResultsOn average, for each standard deviation increase in CPF exposure (4.61 pg/g), Full-Scale intelligence quotient (IQ) declined by 1.4% and Working Memory declined by 2.8%. Final covariates included maternal educational level, maternal IQ, and quality of the home environment. We found no significant interactions between CPF and any covariates, including the other chemical exposures measured during the prenatal period (environmental tobacco smoke and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).ConclusionsWe report evidence of deficits in Working Memory Index and Full-Scale IQ as a function of prenatal CPF exposure at 7 years of age. These findings are important in light of continued widespread use of CPF in agricultural settings and possible longer-term educational implications of early cognitive deficits.
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Project description:BackgroundThe majority of farmers in Malawi use pesticides to protect their crops from pests. Without the use of pesticides, farmers would not be able to harvest significant yields. However, several studies worldwide have shown that some pesticides used by farmers are harmful to human health. Despite these studies, there remains a lack of proper documentation of the use and nature of harmful pesticides.ObjectivesThis retrospective study aimed to explore agricultural pesticides used in Malawi, to investigate factors that make Malawi vulnerable to illegal pesticide use, and to assess the extent that farmers in Malawi have adopted integrated pest management (IPM).MethodsWe reviewed the literature and empirical studies relating to the effects of pesticides on human health. Three databases were searched: EBSCOhost, JSTOR and Africa Journals Online (AJOL). Secondary data were used in the present study, such as case studies, reports and published research studies prior to 2010. We used three search terms: "pesticides causing death in Malawi", "effect of integrated pest management plan", and "pesticides that cause harm to humans in Malawi".DiscussionThe studies revealed that farmers in Malawi use insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, fumigants, nematicides, acaricide, and rodenticides. These chemicals are mainly used on tobacco, tea, sugarcane, coffee, cotton, and maize crops. Furthermore, the study revealed that farmers in Malawi obtain illegal pesticides from vendors from neighboring countries and that the integrated pest management plan has not been successful in Malawi.ConclusionsThe present study recommends that the agricultural department should devise strategies to increase understanding of the effects of pesticides, restrict illegal pesticides and implement procedures curbing illegal pesticides and policies to support integrated pest management.Competing interestsThe authors report no competing financial interests.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Depression in women is a public health problem. Studies have reported positive associations between pesticides and depression, but few studies were prospective or presented results for women separately. OBJECTIVES:We evaluated associations between pesticide exposure and incident depression among farmers' wives in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort study in Iowa and North Carolina. METHODS:We used data on 16,893 wives who did not report physician-diagnosed depression at enrollment (1993-1997) and who completed a follow-up telephone interview (2005-2010). Among these wives, 1054 reported physician diagnoses of depression at follow-up. We collected information on potential confounders and on ever use of any pesticide, 11 functional and chemical classes of pesticides, and 50 specific pesticides by wives and their husbands via self-administered questionnaires at enrollment. We used inverse probability weighting to adjust for potential confounders and to account for possible selection bias induced by the death or loss of 10,639 wives during follow-up. We used log-binomial regression models to estimate risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS:After weighting for age at enrollment, state of residence, education level, diabetes diagnosis, and drop out, wives' incident depression was positively associated with diagnosed pesticide poisoning, but was not associated with ever using any pesticide. Use of individual pesticides or functional or chemical classes of pesticides was generally not associated with wives' depression. Among wives who never used pesticides, husbands' ever use of individual pesticides or functional or chemical classes of pesticides was generally not associated with wives' incident depression. CONCLUSIONS:Our study adds further evidence that high level pesticide exposure, such as pesticide poisoning, is associated with increased risk of depression and sets a lower bound on the level of exposure related to depression, thereby providing reassurance that the moderate levels of pesticide exposure experienced by farmers' wives likely do not increase risk.
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