28
May
(Beyond Pesticides, May 28, 2009) Two commonly used herbicides, pendimethalin and EPTC, show a statistically significant exposure-response association with pancreatic cancer. The new study, “Agricultural Pesticide Use And Pancreatic Cancer Risk In The Agricultural Health Study Cohort,” published earlier this month in the International Journal of Cancer, is a case-control study of pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. After controlling for age, smoking and diabetes, the study finds a three-fold increased risk with lifetime pendimethalin use and a two-and-a-half-fold increased risk with lifetime use of EPTC when compared to those that never used the chemicals. Among the 24 pesticides examined, having ever used one of five pesticides (trifluralin, chlorimuron-ethyl, pendimethalin, EPTC or heptachlor) shows at least a 40 percent excess risk of pancreatic cancer. According to the U.S. EPA’s pesticide sales and usage statistics, pendimethalin is the third most commonly used home and garden (and other non-agricultural use) herbicide and the 7th most commonly used herbicide in agriculture, totaling 21-30 million pounds applied annually in the U.S. Pendimethalin is listed by the U.S. EPA as a Group C – Possible Human Carcinogen and is a suspected endocrine disruptor. Pendimethalin has been found to cause central nervous […]
Posted in Cancer, Pendimethalin | No Comments »
05
Jan
(Beyond Pesticides, January 5, 2009) According to a new study published December 2008 in the online edition of Environmental Health Perspectives, hexavalent chromium (or chromium VI) found in the wood preservatives chromated copper arsenate (CCA) and acid copper chromate (ACC), is a human carcinogen following chronic oral exposure. Previous studies have shown that hexavalent chromium compounds can increase the risk of lung cancer via inhalation exposure. Chromium VI is the notorious chemical that caused cancer in the residents of Hinkley, CA and brought to light by the work of Erin Brockovich. The National Toxicology Program (NTP) conducted 2-year drinking water studies of chromium VI (as sodium dichromate dihydrate) in male and female F344/N rats and B6C3F1 mice. Exposure resulted in increased incidences of rare neoplasms of the squamous epithelium that lines the oral cavity (oral mucosa and tongue) in male and female rats, and of the epithelium lining the small intestine in male and female mice. The authors determined that chromium Vi is carcinogenic following administration in drinking water to male and female rats and mice. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) each have […]
Posted in Cancer, CCA, Chemicals, Disease/Health Effects, Wood Preservatives | 1 Comment »
13
Nov
(Beyond Pesticides, November 13, 2008) The Canadian Cancer Society is holding a conference to look at the possibility of advocating for stricter farm pesticide laws. The Cancer Society has been a vocal advocate for the cosmetic pesticide restrictions that have passed in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec as well as many municipalities, but it has not yet taken a stance on the much larger use of agricultural pesticides. Health Canada, the Canadian entity responsible for pesticide regulation insists, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency does in the U.S., that registered pesticides do not pose a substantive health risk when used as directed, but mounting scientific evidence shows otherwise. Many of the same chemicals that Canadian provinces have banned for cosmetic use, such as the herbicide 2,4-D, are used in much higher volumes in agriculture than on lawns. Since the Cancer Society is a strong voice in favor of the cosmetic pesticide bans because of the dangers of pesticides, it is logical that they would also be concerned about agricultural pesticide use. In other words, “It’s very hard to argue that the cosmetic use of pesticides poses a public-health risk, including cancer risk, and not examine what is going on […]
Posted in 2,4-D, Alternatives/Organics, Cancer, Dow Chemical, International, Pesticide Regulation | No Comments »
10
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 10, 2008) A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology [Vol. 167, No. 8] finds women who have used herbicides are twice as likely to have meningioma, a specific kind of brain tumor. The study, “Occupational exposure to pesticides and risk of adult brain tumors,” was conducted by the National Cancer Institute. The authors examined the risk of two types of brain cancer, glioma and meningioma, associated with occupational exposure to insecticides and herbicides in a hospital-based, case-control study of brain cancer. Cases were 462 glioma and 195 meningioma patients diagnosed between 1994 and 1998 in three U.S. hospitals. Controls were 765 patients admitted to the same hospitals for nonmalignant conditions. Occupational histories were collected during personal interviews. Exposure to pesticides was estimated by use of a questionnaire, combined with pesticide measurement data abstracted from published sources. The researchers found no overall link between brain cancer and on-the-job exposure to pesticides or herbicides. However, looking closer at the data, the researchers noticed that women who reported using herbicides had a more than doubled risk for meningioma compared with women who never used herbicides, and there were significant trends of increasing risk with increasing years of herbicide […]
Posted in Cancer, Chemicals | 1 Comment »
