Daily News Archive
From May 25, 2002

Brain Cancer in Women Linked to Employment in Agriculture Industry

According to Reuters Health, researchers from Yale University found an increased risk for women who have been employed in certain occupations, including agriculture, to a type of brain cancer called glioma.

Dr. Tonhzhang Zheng and his colleagues published the study evaluating 412 Iowa residents diagnosed with glioma from 1984-87 and comparing them to 2,434 cancer-free individuals in the April 2001 issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (volume 43, pages 333-340).

Dr. Zheng, et al, found that women with glioma were more likely to have worked in agriculture, apparel and textile industry, electrical and electronic production, or retail stores. A women's risk to glioma increased the longer they worked in that particular occupation. The study authors found that men with glioma were more likely to have worked in plumbing, heating and air conditioning, roofing and sheet metalworking, rubber and plastic manufacturing and gasoline stations.

The study authors stated that, "An increased risk of brain cancer for workers in these industries could be due to their exposures to pesticides, solvents, dyes and formaldehyde, metal fumes and other chemical or physical [cancer-causing agents], since some … have been associated with brain cancer risk."

For copies of studies that link agriculture/pesticides to brain cancer, please contact Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP at [email protected] or 202-543-5450.