04
Jun
Hypertension and High Blood Pressure Linked to Pesticide Metabolites in Elderly, According to Research
(Beyond Pesticides, June 4, 2025) A new study published in Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology finds that “higher pesticide exposure was significantly associated with elevated blood pressure and greater risks of hypertension.” More specifically, “[t]he results indicated that exposure to PNP [para-nitrophenol/parathion] and 2,4-D may contribute to an increased risk of hypertension.”
According to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), roughly half of U.S. adults have hypertension, which can lead to increased risk for stroke and heart disease, two of the top causes of mortality in the nation. Amid worsening public health concerns, with young generations facing an increase in heart failure (see here for the Duke University School of Medicine analysis), advocates continue to call for the transformation of the food system, including increased access and production of whole-based organic food.
Background Information and Methodology
The authors of this community-based, case-control study are researchers at the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University, both located in Guangzhou, China. The study included 360 participants, consisting of 180 hypertension cases and 180 non-cases (“normotensive individuals”) within China’s National Essential Public Health Services Program. All participants were over 75 years of age. The Ethics Committee of the Guangzhou Center for Disease Control and Prevention approved the parameters of this study.
This study tested for eight urinary pesticide metabolites, including two organophosphates—parathion and chlorpyrifos (Para-nitrophenol and 3,5,6-Trichloro-2-pyridinol [TCPY]); four pyrethroids—fluvalinate, cypermethrin, and permethrin (3-Phenoxybenzoic acid [3-PBA], 4-Fluoro-3-phenoxybenzoic acid [4F-3PBA], cis-3-(2,2-Dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid [cis-DCCA], and trans-3-(2,2-Dichlorovinyl)-2,2-dimethylcyclopropane carboxylic acid [trans-DCCA]; and two phenoxyacid herbicides—(2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid [2,4-D]and 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid [2,4,5-T]).
“Multivariate linear regression and logistic regression were used to evaluate the associations between pesticide metabolites and blood pressure and hypertension, respectively,” say the study authors on their approach to the statistical analysis. They continue: “The Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) was used to assess the joint effects of pesticide metabolites on blood pressure and hypertension. We additionally applied Quantile g-computation (QGC) to validate the robustness of the results obtained from the BKMR analysis.” For further details, see Section 2.4 for the breakdown of various models employed for statistical analysis.
Results Main Takeaways
The main findings can be broken down by their overall associations, sex-specific effects, metabolite mixture effects, as well as the authors’ suggested biological mechanisms.
- Chronic low-dose pesticide exposure may significantly elevate the risk of hypertension. Notably, PNP was associated with an 8% increase in hypertension odds (OR: 1.08, p = 0.03).
- Sex-specific differences emerge both in terms of risk and response. Female participants showed stronger, nonlinear associations with certain pesticide metabolites (e.g., 3-PBA and trans-DCCA), suggesting some level of disproportionate susceptibility for certain active ingredients and metabolites
- Cumulative exposure (“joint effects”) matters. BKMR analyses revealed that cumulative exposure to multiple pesticides, rather than just individual metabolites, significantly increased hypertension risk and systolic blood pressure.
- 2,4-D and PNP stand out as the most critical contributors, with consistent positive associations across the numerous statistical models employed in this study.
Previous Research
The presence of herbicides like 2,4-D has been linked to various adverse health effects, with new studies emerging each year that emphasize the importance of adopting the precautionary principle in state and national regulatory systems.
In a novel series of biomonitoring studies published in Agrochemicals in 2024, researchers identified the presence of the herbicides dicamba and 2,4-D in all pregnant participants. The findings from this research are not surprising given the explosion of toxic petrochemical pesticides in the Midwest region of the United States.
“The overall level of dicamba use (kilograms applied in one hundred thousand) in the U.S. has increased for soybeans since 2015 and slightly increased for cotton and corn,” the authors report, based on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agriculture Statistics Service surveys. The authors continue, “The overall level of 2,4-D use (kilograms applied in one hundred thousand) in the U.S. was highest in 2010 for wheat, soybeans, and corn. The amount of 2,4-D applied increased the most for soybeans and corn from 2010 to 2020.” The study focused on the states of Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, given the increase in dicamba and 2,4-D during the research period for both cohorts (2010-2022). (See here for full Daily News analysis.)
2,4-D is just one example of a toxic pesticide linked to adverse health effects, including issues of hypertension and high blood pressure. A recent cross-sectional study in Heliyon published in 2025 showcases the linkage between sleep disorders and pesticide exposure. The authors of this study found pesticide exposure to be a critical risk factor for sleep disorders after surveying 27,334 Thai farmers over the age of 20 who had work experience for at least five years. The importance of sleep health is reflected both physically and mentally, as studies find “sleep deficiency increase[s] mortality and various health complications, including hypertension, obesity and type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, mood disorders, and neurodegenerative disorder[s].” Additional studies find that these issues are compounded when sleep health is affected by environmental factors such as pesticide exposure. (See Daily News here and here.)
Another study in 2024 published in Environment and Health documents over 50 obesogens – chemicals that are proven to have a health impact on metabolic systems relating to obesity— with high-level human exposure rates, including per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), phthalates (PAEs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), that can lead to lipid metabolism disruption, including health impacts on the liver and insulin resistance, among other metabolic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and dyslipidemia. The study authors highlight the scientific research community’s general focus on adipose tissue and the liver and cite the need to further explore effects on cardiovascular and kidney health. (See Daily News here.)
Call to Action
Communities across the nation continue to call for their elected officials to take a leadership role in ensuring that economic development does not come at the expense of short- and long-term public and ecological health.
You can take action here by contacting your U.S. Representative and Senators to co-sponsor bills that support the viability of organic agriculture, the only legally defined form of sustainable agriculture in the nation with mechanisms for compliance, enforcement, third-party certification, and public participation.
All unattributed positions and opinions in this piece are those of Beyond Pesticides.
