Parkinsonism and Occupational Exposure to Pesticides

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anger WK ; Camicioli R ; Checkoway, Harvey ; Engel LS ; Hudnell K ; Keifer MC ; Longstreth WT ; Scott KC ; Seixas, Noah S.
• Description:
  Objective: To examine the risk of parkinsonism related to lifetime occupational exposure to pesticides among a cohort of men, mostly orchardists, in Washington State. Methods: All 310 subjects in this study had previously participated in a cohort study of men occupationally exposed to pesticides. Subjects were given a structured neurological examination and completed a self administered questionnaire which elicited detailed information on pesticide (insecticide, herbicide, and fungicide) use throughout their working careers. Demographic characteristics were also sought. Subjects had a mean age of 69.6 years (range 49-96, SD 8.1). There were 238 (76.8%) subjects who reported some occupational exposure to pesticides, whereas 72 (23.2%) reported none. Parkinsonism was defined by the presence of two or more of rest tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and impairment of postural reflexes in subjects not on antiparkinsonian medication, or the presence of at least one sign if they were on such medication. Parkinson's disease was not studied explicitly because of the difficulty in distinguishing it from other parkinsonian syndromes. A generalised linear model was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) for parkinsonism relative to history of farming, pesticide use, and use of well water. Results: A PR of 2.0 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.0 to 4.2) was found for subjects in the highest tertile of years of exposure to pesticides; a similarly increased, non-significant, PR was found for the middle tertile (1.9 (95% CI 0.9 to 4.0)), although a trend test did not show a significant exposure-response relation. No increased risks were found associated with specific pesticides or pesticide classes, nor with a history of farming or use of well water. Conclusion: Parkinsonism may be associated with long term occupational exposure to pesticides, although no associations with specific pesticides could be detected. This finding is consistent with most of the publications on this topic. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Insecticides Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Neurological-reactions Neurological-system Neuromotor-disorders Neuromuscular-system Neuromuscular-system-disorders Neurotoxicity Occupational-exposure Occupational-hazards Occupational-health Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals

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• ISSN:
  1351-0711
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; North Carolina ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 10 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032273
• Citation:
  Occup Environ Med 2001 Sep; 58(9):582-589
• Contact Point Address:
  Dr L Engel, Occupational Epidemiology Branch, National Cancer Institute, 6120 Executive Boulevard, EPS 8113, MSC 7240, Bethesda, MD 20892-7240, USA
• Email:
  engell@mail.nih.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2001
• NORA Priority Area:
  Neurotoxic Disorders ; Neurotoxic Effects
• Performing Organization:
  University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19960930
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• End Date:
  20020929
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9f5d308ee33d5c196dd4f5353e8f8cd0f6c3d2f6581dd96b23a3aade0abdbb099a5a079aac7b6da3bbda81ef86408bfc68dbfe31f762cf1d4559345a91dc9be2
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/186302/cdc_186302_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 214.75 KB ]