Pesticide use and incident diabetes among wives of farmers in the Agricultural Health Study

Abstract

Objective To estimate associations between use of specific agricultural pesticides and incident diabetes in women. Methods We used data from the Agricultural Health Study, a large prospective cohort of pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. For comparability with previous studies of farmers, we limited analysis to 13,637 farmers’ wives who reported ever personally mixing or applying pesticides at enrollment (1993-1997), who provided complete data on required covariates and diabetes diagnosis, and who reported no previous diagnosis of diabetes at enrollment. Participants reported ever-use of 50 specific pesticides at enrollment and incident diabetes at one of two follow-up interviews within an average of 12 years of enrollment. We fit Cox proportional hazards models with age as the time scale and adjusting for state and body mass index to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each of 45 pesticides with sufficient users. Results Five pesticides were positively associated with incident diabetes (n=688; 5%): three organophosphates, fonofos (HR=1.56, 95% CI=1.11, 2.19), phorate (HR=1.57, 95% CI=1.14, 2.16), and parathion (HR=1.61, 95% CI=1.05, 2.46); the organochlorine dieldrin (HR=1.99, 95% CI=1.12, 3.54); and the herbicide 2,4,5-T/2,4,5-TP (HR=1.59, 95% CI=1.00, 2.51). With phorate and fonofos together in one model to account for their correlation, risks for both remained elevated, though attenuated compared to separate models. Conclusions Results are consistent with previous studies reporting an association between specific organochlorines and diabetes and add to growing evidence that certain organophosphates also may increase risk.

Occupational exposure to pesticides as a possible risk factor for the development of chronic diseases in humans

“…Over the past years, pesticides, as well as other environmental factors, have been indicated as possible co-factors in the pathogenesis of DM (66–68) (Table III). A systematic review analysed the link between pesticides, DM, and diabetes-related pathologies (69), based on the increasing prevalence of both DM2 and the use of pesticides in Asia.…”

Environmental chemical risk factors for Type 2 diabetes: an update

“…Over 20 cross-sectional studies in highly exposed and background-exposed populations have reported positive associations of blood or adipose concentrations of dioxins Several longitudinal studies have also reported positive associations of PCB [71][72][73], dioxin [10,74] and/or organochlorine [12,72,[75][76][77][78] concentrations with T2DM, while some studies reported no associations with certain POPs [78][79][80]. Among Vietnam War veterans who were involved in spraying Agent Orange, T2DM risk increased with serum TCDD concentrations [10,74].…”

“…In a prospective study of farmers and their spouses in the USA, self-reported ever-use of the organophosphates coumaphos, phorate, terbufos and trichlorfon were associated with increased risk of incident diabetes (adult-onset, unspecified type) in men [75], and fonofos, parathion and phorate ever-use were associated with incident diabetes in women [76]. Additionally, the organophosphates phorate and diazinon were associated with gestational diabetes among women in the AHS who reported any pesticide use during the first trimester of pregnancy [134].…”

“…Among Vietnam War veterans who were involved in spraying Agent Orange, T2DM risk increased with serum TCDD concentrations [10,74]. In the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), farmers who reported ever mixing or applying the organochlorine pesticides chlordane and heptachlor [75] and female spouses of farmers who ever personally applied the organochlorine dieldrin or herbicides historically contaminated with TCDD (2,4,5-T and 2,4,5-TP) [76] were at elevated risk of incident diabetes. In two prospective studies of serum PCBs, increased risk of incident diabetes was observed among women only [71,73].…”

Pesticides: Perceived Threat and Protective Behaviors Among Latino Farmworkers

“…Exposure to pesticides has been linked to deleterious health effects for agricultural workers, 1–7 including delayed neuropathy, 7 DNA damage and mutations, 8 thyroid disease, 9 diabetes, 10,11 Parkinson’s disease,- 7,12 and several cancers. 13,14 Two of the most commonly used pesticides in North Carolina tobacco production 15 are carbaryl and pendimethalin.…”