{"id":24514,"date":"2019-03-26T00:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T04:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=24514"},"modified":"2019-03-25T19:07:32","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T23:07:32","slug":"another-study-links-glyphosate-to-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2019\/03\/another-study-links-glyphosate-to-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Study Links Glyphosate to Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"(Beyond Pesticides, March 26, 2019)\u00a0In a study<\/a> investigating the carcinogenic effects of pesticide exposure by analyzing data on 316,270 farmers and farmworkers in the U.S., Norway, and France, researchers have identified elevated risk for non Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and some subtypes, linking\u00a0glyphosate<\/a> and large B-cell lymphoma. Other pesticides linked to the disease include the pyrethroid deltamethrin<\/a> and chronic lymphocytic leukemia\/small lymphocytic lymphoma; and terbufos<\/a> and NHL overall.<\/p>\n

Researchers also found<\/a> \u201cinverse associations of NHL overall with the broader groups of organochlorine insecticides and phenoxy herbicides, after adjusting for exposure to other pesticides\u201d; such inverse associations were not<\/em> found with active ingredients within these groups. The research underscores how complex the science of pesticide impacts on human health, and on cancer incidence, can be. To wit: in evaluating 14 different pesticide categories and 33 individual, active chemical ingredients, Maria E. Leon, et al., conclude<\/a> that associations of pesticides with the development of NHL appear to be (NHL) subtype- and chemical-specific.<\/p>\n

Published in the International Journal of Epidemiology<\/a><\/em> in mid-March, the study,<\/a> \u201cPesticide use and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoid malignancies in agricultural cohorts from France, Norway and the USA: a pooled analysis from the AGRICOH consortium,\u201d uses data from three large cohort groups in AGRICOH,<\/a> \u201can international consortium of agricultural cohort studies formed in October of 2010 to encourage and support data pooling to study disease-exposure associations that individual cohorts do not have sufficient statistical power to study.\u201d AGRICOH is a program of the World Health Organization\u2019s International Agency for Research on Cancer<\/a> (IARC).<\/p>\n

The three cohort groups included those from AGRICAN, a program of the Mutualit\u00e9 Sociale Agricole, the French national health insurance system of agricultural workers; CNAP, an aggregate group of farm holders and families compiled by Statistics Norway; and the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), which enrolled farmers and farm workers from Iowa and North Carolina.<\/p>\n

Farmers and farmworkers are commonly exposed to a multitude of chemical compounds \u2014 especially pesticides (which term here includes herbicides and fungicides, as well) \u2014 through their work. Such activities can include: mixing and storing pesticide chemicals; applying them to seeds and\/or fields; cleaning of related equipment; applications to livestock; and pest management in barns, soils, and animal compounds.<\/p>\n

Notably, 75% of subjects in this study were male.<\/p>\n

Each database exhibited linkages to cancer and mortality registries in their respective countries. Data were tracked for exposures to the subject pesticide (and other) compounds and the 33 active ingredients, and first incidence of cancer diagnoses. Subjects had no previous cancer diagnoses, except for an occasional non-melanoma skin cancer, before or during follow-up. The span of time frames for each study plus follow-up were as follows: AGRICAN, 2005\u20132009; CNAP, every five years from 1969 through 1989, with follow-up through 2011; and AHS, 1993\u20131997, with follow-up through 2010 in North Carolina, and 2011 in Iowa. Results of the study show that there were more than 2,400 cases of NHL across more than 3.5 million person-years of follow-up.<\/p>\n

For this research, chemical groups and active ingredients were selected based on common use in at least two of the three countries. In addition, researchers gave priority to chemical groups and active ingredients for which some associative evidence with lympho-hematological malignancies has already been established, and to active ingredients not previously investigated in epidemiological studies. Glyphosate and dicamba<\/a> were included in the study, as well as these categorical compounds: four insecticides (organophosphates, organochlorines, carbamates, and pyrethroids); seven herbicides (phenyl ureas, chloroacetanilides, dinitroanilines, phenoxys, thiocarbamates, triazines, and triazinones); two fungicides (dithiocarbamates and phthalimides); and arsenical compounds.<\/p>\n

The ingredients (active, adjuvant, and \u201cinert\u201d) in those pesticides represent a variety of chemical compounds, and exposures to one \u2014 or more \u2014 of them may have any number of mechanisms of action in the human body, per se or in combination. The investigators in this study note that<\/a> \u201cpesticide exposure can induce genotoxicity, immunosuppression, oxidative stress and\/or inflammatory effects, hormone receptor modulation and\/or other biological responses that are important characteristics of carcinogens.\u201d They make the case that because of this plethora of factors, individual active ingredients should be researched, as well as categories of pesticides.<\/p>\n

The territory for research on pesticides\u2019 potential carcinogenicity, and other impacts on human health, is almost ridiculously complicated. Yet there is some convergence across research that exposure to certain pesticides increases the risk of developing some cancers. The association that has been in a blinding spotlight for the past few years is that between exposures to glyphosate and\/or glyphosate-based herbicides and risks of developing non-Hodgkin\u2019s Lymphoma<\/a>, in particular. Beyond Pesticides has covered the mounting evidence<\/a> of the dangers of glyphosate; most recently, it reviewed a meta-study<\/a> that suggests a compelling link between exposures to glyphosate-based herbicides and increased risk of NHL.<\/p>\n

In addition, it has written extensively on developments in the science and regulatory arena, including:<\/p>\n