Pesticide use and fatal injury among farmers in the Agricultural Health Study

Details

• Personal Author:
  Alavanja MCR ; Beane Freeman LE ; Henneberger, Paul K. ; Hoppin JA ; Kamel F ; Kullman, Greg J. ; Sandler DP ; Umbach DM ; Waggoner JK
• Description:
  Purpose To assess whether pesticide use practices were associated with injury mortality among 51,035 male farmers from NC and IA enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study. Methods We used Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age and state to estimate fatal injury risk associated with self-reported use of 49 speciWc pesticides, personal protective equipment, specific types of farm machinery, and other farm factors collected 1-15 years preceding death. Cause-specific mortality was obtained through linkage to mortality registries. Results We observed 338 injury fatalities over 727,543 person-years of follow-up (1993-2008). Fatal injuries increased with days/year of pesticide application, with the highest risk among those with 60+ days of pesticide application annually [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.87; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.10, 3.18]. Chemical-resistant glove use was associated with decreased risk (HR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.58, 0.93), but adjusting for glove use did not substantially change estimates for individual pesticides or pesticide use overall. Herbicides were associated with fatal injury, even after adjusting for operating farm equipment, which was independently associated with fatal injury. Ever use of five of 18 herbicides (2,4,5-T, paraquat, alachlor, metribuzin, and butylate) were associated with elevated risk. In addition, 2,4-D and cyanazine were associated with fatal injury in exposure-response analyses. There was no evidence of confounding of these results by other herbicides. Conclusion The association between application of pesticides, particularly certain herbicides, and fatal injuries among farmers should be interpreted cautiously but deserves further evaluation, with particular focus on understanding timing of pesticide use and fatal injury. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Agriculture Farmers Insecticides Men Morbidity Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety

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• Keywords:
  Age-groups Agricultural-industry Agricultural-machinery Agricultural-workers Author Keywords: Pesticides Hazards Humans Injuries Models Morbidity-rates Mortality-rates Personal-protective-equipment Pesticides Pesticides-and-agricultural-chemicals Risk-factors Traumatic-injuries Wounds And Injuries

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• ISSN:
  0340-0131
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Maryland ; North Carolina ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; West Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DRDS - Division of Respiratory Disease Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  177-187
• Volume:
  86
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040513
• Citation:
  Int Arch Occup Environ Health 2013 Feb; 86(2):177-187
• Contact Point Address:
  Jane A. Hoppin, Epidemiology Branch, NIEHS, NIH, DHHS, MD A3-05, P.O. Box 12233, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2233
• Email:
  hoppin1@niehs.nih.gov
• CAS Registry Number:
  Alachlor (CAS RN 15972-60-8) ; Butylate (CAS RN 2008-41-5) ; Methyl viologen (CAS RN 1910-42-5) ; Metribuzin (CAS RN 21087-64-9) ; Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid (CAS RN 93-76-5)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  International Archives of Occupational and Environmental Health
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6d57eefda02ab8dd8e76b6a06093b72c91bc300768f47e9c3c9b83b193bf22e8c1721ca0d5627d92ca692c6dc553c37147bf64f2d462fe9810bd3a877f2a015d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/193336/cdc_193336_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 513.32 KB ]