Pesticide Use and Prostate Cancer Incidence in a Prospective Cohort Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alavanja MCR ; Beane-Freeman LE ; Blair, Austin ; Coble J ; Hines CJ ; Hoppin JA ; Lubin JH ; Mahajan R ; Sandler DP ; Thomas K
• Description:
  Introduction: Prostate cancer has been observed to occur in excess among farmers and other agricultural workers in a number of countries around the world. Methods: A prospective cohort of 89,658 pesticide applicators and their spouses were followed for cancer incidence for an average of 8.5 years. Members of the cohort completed questionnaires about pesticide use, occupations, lifestyle, and medical history during enrollment (1993-1997) and at 2 subsequent periods of time. A total of 1289 incident prostate cancers cases were identified among the 57,311 male pesticide applicators through December 2003 through linkage with population-based cancer registries. Two exposure metrics were used to estimate exposure. One was an estimate of total days of a specific pesticide use in a life-time; the second, total days of exposure weighted by a published estimate of exposure intensity. Results: Male cohort members experienced a small, but significant, elevated risk of prostate cancer compared with the general populations of the study states (SIR = 1.24; 95% CI, 1.18-1.33). A family history of prostate cancer among first-degree relatives of male cohort members conferred a twofold excess risk of prostate cancer. Significant linear exposure-response trends (P = 0.05) were observed for 6 specific pesticides (fonofos, phorate, coumaphos and chlorpyrifos, which are organothiophosphates; butylate, an herbicide; and permethrin, an insecticide), but only among those with a family history of prostate cancer, confirming a preliminary published report from this study. Discusion/Conclusions: The consistency of our findings with 2 different exposure metrics, in both study sites and with preliminary published results, suggests that genetic susceptibility among pesticide applicators may play an important role in prostate cancer etiology. Shared environmental risk factors for prostate cancer among family members, however, may also explain these results. Planned molecular studies nested within the same cohort to assess genetic and epigenetic modes of action might clarify and explain these associations. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Agriculture Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Epidemiology Family Farmers Genetics Insecticides Neoplasms Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Organophosphates Safety Sex Characteristics Urogenital Diseases Urogenital System

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• Keywords:
  Agricultural-chemicals Agricultural-workers Biological-effects Biological-monitoring Biological-systems Cancer Cancer-rates Dose-response Environmental-contamination Environmental-exposure Environmental-hazards Etiology Families Genetic-factors Occupational-exposure Organo-phosphorus-pesticides Pest-control Pesticide-residues Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Prostate-cancer Sex-factors

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• ISSN:
  1044-3983
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; North Carolina ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  17
• Issue:
  6
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031743
• Citation:
  Epidemiology 2006 Nov; 17(6)(Suppl S):S116-S117
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• NORA Priority Area:
  Work Environment and Workforce: Special Populations
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  Epidemiology
• Supplement:
  S
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:c163926816e420ea4c8da76f187bc499444db37c5419b5345939d695a96cf21f1daca2c7816948bd539e5dc7455e185270e366872a069dc431c3d17bdd4738ec
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185921/cdc_185921_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 101.50 KB ]