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PubMed1998

Time to pregnancy and exposure to pesticides in Danish farmers. ASCLEPIOS Study Group.

OBJECTIVE: Circumstantial evidence suggests that organic farmers may have higher sperm count than other men, but comprehensive epidemiological studies of male fecundity among farmers have never been carried out. A substantial increase of sperm count is expected to translate into a shorter time to pregnancy--the number of menstrual cycles or months it takes a couple to get pregnant from discontinuation of birth control. Toxicological effects on spermatogenesis in humans and animals have been described after exposure to several pesticides. The aim of this study was to examine time to pregnancy among farmers who used pesticides (traditional farmers) and farmers who did not (organic farmers). METHODS: A total of 904 (84%) men, selected from the Danish Ministry of Agriculture lists of traditional and organic farmers, participated in telephone interviews. Information was collected on time to pregnancy for the youngest child, exposure to pesticides, and potential confounders. RESULTS: With the discrete analogue of the Cox regression model (including potential confounders: male and female smoking, female age, parity, and contraceptive method), the fecundability ratio between traditional farmers who used pesticides and organic farmers was 1.03 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.75 to 1.40). In the group of farmers who sprayed with pesticides, none of the characteristics related to the use of pesticides could account for the variation in time to pregnancy. CONCLUSIONS: No overall effect of pesticides on male fecundability was found in this retrospective study among Danish farmers. Also, we found no evidence of higher male fecundability in organic farmers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

Deaths from pesticide poisoning in England and Wales: 1945-1989.

1. Data on deaths from pesticide poisoning occurring in England and Wales between 1945 and 1989 (no data are available for 1954) have been collated; pesticides were responsible for only 1012 (1.1%) of the 87,385 deaths from poisoning (excluding those due to carbon monoxide) occurring over this 44 year period. At least 73% of all pesticide fatalities were due to suicide and overall there was a predominance of males (male:female ratio 2.4:1). No deaths from pesticide poisoning in children under 10 years have been reported since 1974 although almost 50% of suspected pesticide poisoning incidents involve this age group. 2. Herbicides were responsible for 787 (78%) fatal poisonings, 110 (11%) were caused by insecticides, 69 (6.8%) by rodenticides, 30 (3.0%) by wood preservatives and 16 (1.6%) by other pesticides. 3. The herbicide, paraquat, was responsible for 570 of 1012 (56%) deaths and, although there has been a progressive decline in the annual number of deaths from paraquat poisoning since 1982, paraquat remains the most common cause of fatal pesticide poisoning in England and Wales. 4. Sodium chlorate caused 113 (11.2%) deaths, most of these fatalities occurring between 1965 and 1983; only one death has been recorded since 1984. The phenoxyacetate herbicides resulted in 50 deaths; 2,4-D was implicated most commonly. Sixty-eight deaths were due to organophosphorus insecticides; demeton-S-methyl, malathion and mevinphos were involved most frequently. Only eight deaths resulted from organochlorine insecticides and two of these also involved an organophosphorus insecticide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Surveillance systems for pesticide intoxications.

The intent of this article is to provide an overview of surveillance systems dealing with pesticide intoxications. Surveillance, medical monitoring, and the components of a surveillance system are discussed. Information is presented on how to make a diagnosis of environmental or occupational pesticide intoxication, examples of different case definitions, and the steps in investigating a pesticide disease outbreak. Examples from various countries are used to illustrate acute pesticide intoxication surveillance, pesticide exposure surveillance, and medical monitoring of pesticide-exposed workers. Finally, a list of informational sources for pesticide toxicology, medical diagnosis and treatment, and surveillance data is provided. It is anticipated that this information will assist those individuals or organizations seeking to develop such a system, evaluate an existing system, or gain a better understanding of data derived from such systems.

Diagnosis, Differential↗
PubMedDate not supplied

An icon-based interview for the assessment of occupational pesticide exposure in a case-control study of childhood leukemia.

An icon-calendar interview form (ICF) for a case-control study of childhood leukemias and parental exposures to pesticides is described. It includes calendar sheets, icons for life events, crops, jobs, regions, non-agricultural jobs, application techniques and personal protection, markers for durations of exposure patterns, and checklists of pesticides. The ICF collects monthly data from two years before birth until diagnosis of cancer (index children) or until either the interview date or age 15 (controls). Data ascertainment was easy in 62% of interviews, moderately easy in 32%, and difficult in 6%. Seventy-eight subjects delivered data on specific pesticides with pesticide checklists, which improved identification of pesticides. ICF performs satisfactorily for crops, tasks, and other determinants of exposure. Data on pesticides will be further improved by introducing external data use on different crops, time periods, and regions, and by exposure modeling for 27 pesticides.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Longitudinal investigation of dietary exposure to selected pesticides.

Between September 1995 and September 1996, 4-day composite duplicate plate samples (379 solid food samples and 303 beverage samples) were obtained from a stratified random sample of 75 individuals in Maryland and analyzed for the presence of 10 pesticides. Samples were collected in each of six approximately equally spaced cycles as part of a larger pilot investigation of longitudinal exposure to pesticides and other elements. Chlorpyrifos was detected in 38.3% of the solid food samples, malathion in 75.2%, and p,p'-DDE in 21.4%. Other pesticides were detected in less than 10% of the solid food samples. Pesticide residues were not detected in duplicate beverage samples. In solid food samples, the mean concentration of chlorpyrifos was 0.7 (SD 1.7) microg/kg, 1.8 (2.1) for malathion, and 0.2 (0.6) for p,p'-DDE. The detection rate and mean concentration of chlorpyrifos, malathion, and p,p'-DDE varied by a factor of 2-3 among sampling cycles and significantly according to results from several statistical analyses. Co-occurrence of chlorpyrifos and malathion in solid food samples was found relatively frequently and also varied with time. Pesticides were detected in food samples with greatest frequency in spring and summer months and with lowest frequency in winter months. These results support the hypothesis that 4-day average exposure to chlorpyrifos and malathion varies over time for this population mean and for individual members of the population and that correlation between exposures to these two organophosphate pesticides can occur. The measurements of pesticide levels in duplicate plate samples presented here can be used to evaluate and set parameters for dietary exposure models.

Baltimore↗
PubMed2003

Semen quality in relation to biomarkers of pesticide exposure.

We previously reported reduced sperm concentration and motility in fertile men in a U.S. agrarian area (Columbia, MO) relative to men from U.S. urban centers (Minneapolis, MN; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY). In the present study we address the hypothesis that pesticides currently used in agriculture in the Midwest contributed to these differences in semen quality. We selected men in whom all semen parameters (concentration, percentage sperm with normal morphology, and percentage motile sperm) were low (cases) and men in whom all semen parameters were within normal limits (controls) within Missouri and Minnesota (sample sizes of 50 and 36, respectively) and measured metabolites of eight current-use pesticides in urine samples provided at the time of semen collection. All pesticide analyses were conducted blind with respect to center and case-control status. Pesticide metabolite levels were elevated in Missouri cases, compared with controls, for the herbicides alachlor and atrazine and for the insecticide diazinon [2-isopropoxy-4-methyl-pyrimidinol (IMPY)]; for Wilcoxon rank test, p = 0.0007, 0.012, and 0.0004 for alachlor, atrazine, and IMPY, respectively. Men from Missouri with high levels of alachlor or IMPY were significantly more likely to be cases than were men with low levels [odds ratios (ORs) = 30.0 and 16.7 for alachlor and IMPY, respectively], as were men with atrazine levels higher than the limit of detection (OR = 11.3). The herbicides 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) and metolachlor were also associated with poor semen quality in some analyses, whereas acetochlor levels were lower in cases than in controls (p = 0.04). No significant associations were seen for any pesticides within Minnesota, where levels of agricultural pesticides were low, or for the insect repellent DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) or the malathion metabolite malathion dicarboxylic acid. These associations between current-use pesticides and reduced semen quality suggest that agricultural chemicals may have contributed to the reduction in semen quality in fertile men from mid-Missouri we reported previously.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Breast cancer risk and historical exposure to pesticides from wide-area applications assessed with GIS.

Pesticides are of interest in etiologic studies of breast cancer because many mimic estrogen, a known breast cancer risk factor, or cause mammary tumors in animals, but most previous studies have been limited by using one-time tissue measurements of residues of only a few pesticides long banned in the United States. As an alternative method to assess historical exposures to banned and current-use pesticides, we used geographic information system (GIS) technology in a population-based case-control study of 1,165 women residing in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, who were diagnosed with breast cancer in 1988-1995 and 1,006 controls. We assessed exposures dating back to 1948 (when DDT was first used there) from pesticides applied for tree pests (e.g., gypsy moths), cranberry bogs, other agriculture, and mosquito control on wetlands. We found no overall pattern of association between pesticide use and breast cancer. We found modest increases in risk associated with aerial application of persistent pesticides on cranberry bogs and less persistent pesticides applied for tree pests or agriculture. Adjusted odds ratios for these exposures were 1.8 or lower, and, with a few exceptions, confidence intervals did not exclude the null. The study is limited by uncertainty about locations of home addresses (particularly before 1980) and unrecorded tree pest and mosquito control events as well as lack of information about exposures during years when women in the study lived off Cape Cod and about women with potentially important early life exposures on Cape Cod who were not included because they moved away.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Residential proximity to agricultural pesticide use and incidence of breast cancer in California, 1988-1997.

California is the largest agricultural state in the United States and home to some of the world's highest breast cancer rates. The objective of our study was to evaluate whether California breast cancer rates were elevated in areas with recent high agricultural pesticide use. We identified population-based invasive breast cancer cases from the California Cancer Registry for 1988-1997. We used California's pesticide use reporting data to select pesticides for analysis based on use volume, carcinogenic potential, and exposure potential. Using 1990 and 2000 U.S. Census data, we derived age- and race-specific population counts for the time period of interest. We used a geographic information system to aggregate cases, population counts, and pesticide use data for all block groups in the state. To evaluate whether breast cancer rates were related to recent agricultural pesticide use, we computed rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals using Poisson regression models, adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and neighborhood socioeconomic status and urbanization. This ecologic (aggregative) analysis included 176,302 invasive breast cancer cases and 70,968,598 person-years of observation. The rate ratios did not significantly differ from 1 for any of the selected pesticide categories or individual agents. The results from this study provide no evidence that California women living in areas of recent, high agricultural pesticide use experience higher rates of breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Pesticides: an important but underused model for the environmental health sciences.

Pesticides are high-volume, widely used, environmental chemicals and there is continuous debate concerning their possible role in many chronic human health effects. Because of their known structures, known rates of application, and the presence of a large occupationally exposed population, they are not only important in their own right but are ideal models for the effects of environmental chemicals on the population in general. For reasons that are not always clear, this potential has not been realized. These exposed populations represent an underused asset in the study of the human health effects of environmental contaminants. Chronic effects thought to involve pesticides include carcinogenesis, neurotoxicity, and reproductive and development effects. In this paper we attempt to summarize this concern and, relying to a large extent on studies in our own laboratory, to indicate the importance and present status of studies of the mammalian metabolism of pesticides and indicate the need for further use of this model. Aspects considered include the role of pesticides as substrates for xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes such as cytochrome P450 and the flavin-containing monooxygenase and their role as inducers or inhibitors of metabolic enzymes. The interaction of pesticides with complex multienzyme pathways, the role of biological characteristics, particularly gender, in pesticide metabolism, and the special role of pesticides at portals of entry and in target tissues are also considered.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗
PubMed1998

Comparison of pesticides and other compounds in carpet dust samples collected from used vacuum cleaner bags and from a high-volume surface sampler.

Epidemiologic studies of the association between residential pesticide use and cancer risk require an assessment of past pesticide exposures. Pesticide levels in carpet dust are believed to reflect long-term pesticide use. Recent epidemiologic studies have found collection of dust samples using the high-volume surface sampler (HVS3) to be expensive and cumbersome. We compared the levels of pesticides and other compounds in dust obtained from subjects' personal used vacuum cleaner bags to that collected by the HVS3 to see if this simpler method could replace the HVS3 in epidemiologic research. We visited the homes of 15 subjects, took the used bags from their vacuums, and collected carpet dust samples with the HVS3. The samples were analyzed for 42 target compounds: 26 pesticides, 10 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and six polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners using GC/MS in selected ion monitoring mode. The two methods agreed in detecting the presence of the target compounds between 80% and 100% of the time. Neither sampling method was consistently more sensitive. The median target compound concentrations were similar, and a paired t-test showed no significant differences. For many compounds, the concentrations of compounds in the HVS3 samples were higher than those in the used bag samples at the upper end of the concentration ranges. However, the Spearman rank correlation coefficients were 0.85 or higher for most compounds, indicating that homes would be ranked similarly using both methods. Overall, there appears to be no clear difference in the quality of the pesticide, PAH, or PCB concentration data for the two dust collection methods.

Air Pollution, Indoor↗
PubMed1998

Pesticides and childhood cancer.

Children are exposed to potentially carcinogenic pesticides from use in homes, schools, other buildings, lawns and gardens, through food and contaminated drinking water, from agricultural application drift, overspray, or off-gassing, and from carry-home exposure of parents occupationally exposed to pesticides. Parental exposure during the child's gestation or even preconception may also be important. Malignancies linked to pesticides in case reports or case-control studies include leukemia, neuroblastoma, Wilms' tumor, soft-tissue sarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and cancers of the brain, colorectum, and testes. Although these studies have been limited by nonspecific pesticide exposure information, small numbers of exposed subjects, and the potential for case-response bias, it is noteworthy that many of the reported increased risks are of greater magnitude than those observed in studies of pesticide-exposed adults, suggesting that children may be particularly sensitive to the carcinogenic effects of pesticides. Future research should include improved exposure assessment, evaluation of risk by age at exposure, and investigation of possible genetic-environment interactions. There is potential to prevent at least some childhood cancer by reducing or eliminating pesticide exposure.

Brain Neoplasms↗
PubMed2006

California surveillance for pesticide-related illness and injury: coverage, bias, and limitations.

The California Pesticide Illness Surveillance Program (PISP) is a major resource for pesticide illness epidemiology. This work attempts to improve characterization of pesticide illness in California, evaluate case ascertainment of the PISP and identify PISP's limitations and biases for studying the incidence and epidemiology of pesticide-related illness. Abstractors collected standardized information from 1994-1996 PISP files, poison control logs, hospital records, and death certificates. Linkage produced a merged file of all records that documented consideration of pesticide exposure as a cause of ill health. We identified 23 deaths and estimated 1,310 hospitalizations attributable to pesticide exposure, corresponding to 0.024 fatalities and 1.38 hospitalizations (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-1.74) per 100,000 California population person-years. Most intoxications followed domestic exposures and were not reported to the surveillance program, which identified primarily occupational exposures. Excluding groups of five or more, we estimated 16% ascertainment (CI = 0.05-0.27) for non-agricultural occupational cases. Agricultural connections increased the probability of ascertainment to about 50%, cultural and economic barriers notwithstanding. Surveillance records existed for all identified episodes in which five or more people were exposed. California pesticide surveillance data appear complete for mass exposures, and adequate to characterize agricultural and occupational exposures. Work is needed to explore domestic exposures and occurrences beyond the reach of the health care system.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Pesticide-induced oxidative stress: perspectives and trends.

Pesticide-induced oxidative stress as a possible mechanism of toxicity has been a focus of toxicological research for the last decade. Yet for certain pesticides, mechanisms leading to oxidative stress are only partly understood. Pesticide-induced oxidative stress is the final manifestation of a multi-step pathway, resulting in an imbalance between pro-oxidant and antioxidant defense mechanisms. Concomitantly, pesticide intoxication induces a derangement of certain antioxidant mechanisms in different tissues, including alterations in antioxidant enzymes and the glutathione redox system. In this article, we discuss the impact of certain factors that are important in the potentiation of pesticide-induced oxidative stress, immunotoxicity, and apoptosis. Understanding risk factors largely depends upon the cellular and molecular events underlying pesticide-induced stress in experimental animals. These factors must be considered in the safety/toxicity evaluation of any pesticide. The identification and characterization of plant products/drugs might be helpful for understanding the mechanisms of compensation and repair that are due to oxidative stress-induced injury. This paper reviews the nature of such damage, the cellular conditions in which it occurs, and oxidative-stress data that may be applied to the development of risk-assessment methods and models that are designed to reduce some of these uncertainties.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Pesticide exposure and stunting as independent predictors of neurobehavioral deficits in Ecuadorian school children.

OBJECTIVES: To examine possible effects on blood pressure, neurological function, and neurobehavioral tests in school-aged children with and without prenatal pesticide exposure in an area where stunting is common. METHODS: In a community of Northern Ecuador with intensive floriculture and a high female employment rate, we invited 79 children attending the 2 lowest grades of a public school for clinical examinations. In addition to a thorough physical examination, we administered simple reaction time, Santa Ana dexterity test, Stanford-Binet copying, and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised Digit Spans forward. Maternal interview included detailed assessment of occupational history to determine pesticide exposure during pregnancy. Recent and current pesticide exposure was assessed by erythrocyte acetylcholine esterase activity and urinary excretion of organophosphate metabolites. RESULTS: All eligible children participated in the study, but 7 children were excluded from data analysis due to other disease or age >9 years. A total of 31 of the remaining 72 children were classified as stunted based on their height for age. Maternal occupational history revealed that 37 children had been exposed to pesticides during development. After confounder adjustment, prenatal pesticide exposure was associated with a higher systolic blood pressure than in the controls. On neurological examination, 14 exposed children and 9 controls showed > or =1 abnormalities. Of 5 neurobehavioral tests, the Stanford-Binet copying test showed a lower drawing score for copying designs in exposed children than in controls. Stunting was associated with a lower score on this test only, and both risk factors remained statistically significant in a multiple regression analysis with adjustment for demographic and social confounders. Increased excretion of dimethyl and diethyl metabolites of organophosphates was associated with increased reaction time and no other outcomes. CONCLUSION: Prenatal pesticide exposure may cause lasting neurotoxic damage and add to the adverse effects of malnutrition in developing countries. The effects differ from those due to acute pesticide exposure.

Blood Pressure↗
PubMed2005

[Impact of legislation on registration of acutely toxic pesticides in Brazil].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the application of the "Pesticides Law" (Law no. 7,802/89) on the toxicological classification profile of registered pesticides in Brazil, from 1990 to 2000. METHODS: Data on registered commercial products in the years 1990 and 2000 were analyzed according to toxicological class, date of registration of the active ingredient (before or after the Law) and usage class (insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and others). Relative Identified Distribution Analysis was utilized for verifying statistical differences between distributions according to toxicological classes. RESULTS: Among the 863 registered commercial products in 2000, 46.6% were already registered before the Pesticide Law. Among the 461 commercial products registered after the Law, 59.2% were derivatives of active ingredients registered before the Law, and 41.4% were classified as highly hazardous (classes I and II of the Brazilian toxicological classification). No significant differences in toxicological classification profile were identified between the group of pesticides derived from active ingredients registered before the Law and the group derived from active ingredients registered after the Law (p<0.0859). CONCLUSIONS: Ten years after the Pesticide Law came into effect, no significant improvement had been observed in the toxicological classification profile of registered pesticides. This was due especially to the continuing presence of products registered before the Law and the registration of new commercial products derived from "old" active ingredients. There was still a high proportion of registrations in the most hazardous classes. It is recommended that compulsory periodic reevaluation of all registered pesticides should be reestablished.

Brazil↗
PubMed2006

[Pesticide pollution in water systems in a small rural community in Southeast Brazil].

Recent advances in analytical techniques allow identifying pesticide pollution in water systems. In small rural communities, the negative effects of pesticide pollution can be aggravated by the lack of infrastructure and adverse socioeconomic conditions. This study investigated pesticide pollution in potential water supply sources in a tomato growing area in Paty do Alferes, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The study selected 27 points where five monthly samples were collected. Pesticide pollution was determined by analyzing acetyl-cholinesterase inhibition. In 19 of the 27 sample points, some pesticide pollution was detected, and in two points the pesticide pollution was above the permitted limits. The results thus proved the incidence of pesticide pollution in water sources in Paty do Alferes that could jeopardize the local population's health.

Agricultural Workers' Diseases↗
PubMed2000

Economic burden of illness from pesticide poisonings in highland Ecuador.

Active surveillance of acute pesticide poisonings in a potato-growing region of highland Ecuador during 1991-1992 uncovered a rate of 171/100,000, due predominantly to occupational exposures to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides. Occupational exposure among agricultural workers was the most common reason for poisoning (32 male workers and 1 female worker, out of a total of 50 cases). Of these 33 cases, 28 of them reported pesticide application as the work task just prior to poisoning, with over 80% citing the use of World Health Organization Hazard Category I pesticides. The suicide rate of 17.1/100,000 and the overall mortality rate of 20.5/100,000 that we found are among the highest reported anywhere in the world. At the exchange rates prevailing at that time, median costs associated with these poisonings were estimated as follows: public and social security health care direct costs of US$ 9.85/case; private health costs of US$ 8.33/case; and lost-time indirect costs of US$ 8.33/agricultural worker. Each one of those costs was over five times the daily agricultural wage, which was then about US$ 1.50. Further costing of pesticide poisonings should be carried out in other settings to provide appropriate information for decisions about pesticide use. In addition, integrated pest management should be further evaluated as an appropriate technology to reduce the economic burden of illness from pesticide poisonings in developing countries.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

Effects of pesticides on soil invertebrates in laboratory studies: a review and analysis using species sensitivity distributions.

Species sensitivity distributions (SSD) and 5% hazardous concentrations (HC5) are distribution-based approaches for assessing environmental risks of pollutants. These methods have potential for application in pesticide risk assessments, but their applicability for assessing pesticide risks to soil invertebrate communities has not been evaluated. Using data obtained in a systematic review, the present study investigates the relevance of SSD and HC5 for predicting pesticide risks to soil invertebrates. Altogether, 1950 laboratory toxicity data were obtained, representing 250 pesticides and 67 invertebrate taxa. The majority (96%) of pesticides have toxicity data for fewer than five species. Based on a minimum of five species, the best available endpoint data (acute mortality median lethal concentration) enabled SSD and HC5 to be calculated for 11 pesticides (atrazine, carbendazim, chlorpyrifos, copper compounds, diazinon, dimethoate, gamma-hexachlorocyclohexane, lambda-cyhalothrin, parathion, pentachlorophenol, and propoxur). Arthropods and oligochaetes exhibit pronounced differences in their sensitivity to most of these pesticides. The standard test earthworm species, Eisenia fetida sensu lato, is the species that is least sensitive to insecticides based on acute mortality, whereas the standard Collembola test species, Folsomia candida, is among the most sensitive species for a broad range of toxic modes of action (biocide, fungicide, herbicide, and insecticide). These findings suggest that soil arthropods should be tested routinely in regulatory risk assessments. In addition, the data indicate that the uncertainty factor for earthworm acute mortality tests (i.e., 10) does not fully cover the range of earthworm species sensitivities and that acute mortality tests would not provide the most sensitive risk estimate for earthworms in the majority (95%) of cases.

Animals↗