07
Aug
(Beyond Pesticides, August 7, 2025) The novel study published in Arthritis & Rheumatology is the largest investigation of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in women to date, finding evidence of heightened risks when exposed to insecticides through data collected from over 400 eligible women in the Agricultural Health Study (AHS). AHS participants include a cohort of thousands of licensed pesticide applicators and their spouses from Iowa and North Carolina, with this particular study as the first to consider the link between pesticide exposure and RA as it affects women’s health.  “Growing evidence suggests farming and agricultural pesticide use may be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but few studies have examined specific pesticides and RA among farm women, who may personally use pesticides or be indirectly exposed,” the study authors explain. The findings reveal that organochlorine insecticides that continue to persist in the environment, as well as organophosphate and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides used in public health or residential settings, correlate with RA diagnoses in women. As shared in previous Daily News, for the most part organochlorine pesticides, including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), are no longer used worldwide, but the legacy of their poisoning and contamination persists. These compounds are primarily made up of chlorine atoms, […]
Posted in Agriculture, Alternatives/Organics, Arthritis/Joint Inflammation, Carbamates, Carbaryl, Carbofuran, Coumaphos, DDT, Fungicides, Lindane, Malathion, mancozeb, Maneb, Metalaxyl, organochlorines, organophosphate, Permethrin, pyrethroids, Rheumatoid arthritis, Synthetic Pyrethroid, Women's Health | No Comments »
05
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 5, 2022) Exposure to widely used synthetic pyrethroids, present in many mosquito adulticides and household insecticides like RAID, is associated with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, according to research published in Environmental Science and Pollution Research. This is the latest pesticide-induced disease associated with this dangerous class of chemicals – a harm to individual Americans that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not considering when it registers pesticides. To remedy the major deficiencies in EPA’s reviews, and protect residents from chronic disease, more and more communities are transitioning to safer, organic pest management practices that do not require pyrethroids and other toxic synthetic pesticides. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes systemic inflammation throughout the body, resulting in progressive damage to an individual’s joints. In the United States, roughly 1.3 million adults suffer from RA, accounting for nearly 1% of the adult population. Health care costs associated with the disease reach nearly $20 billion annually. To better understand the etiology behind the disease, an international team of researchers from China, Illinois, and Missouri analyzed data from the 2007-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a long-running program that began in the early 1960s […]
Posted in ADHD, Children, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Mosquitoes, Nervous System Effects, Rheumatoid arthritis, Synthetic Pyrethroid, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
