A case-control study was performed in southwestern France in order to assess the relationship between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease (PD) in the elderly. During the period from 1997 to ...1999, 84 cases were recruited together with 252 population-based controls. Experts in occupational health reviewed job codes and provided pesticide exposure levels, making it possible to calculate cumulated exposure lifelong for individuals. Environmental pesticide exposure was considered in relation to the place of residence. A positive association was found with occupational pesticide exposure (odds ratio = 2.2, 95% confidence interval 1.1-4.3) in conditional logistic multiple regression analysis taking into account age, sex, educational level and smoking; however, no clear dose relationship was found. Our results support the hypothesis of an association between occupational pesticide exposure and PD and point to the need to investigate the role of fungicides, for which toxicological hypotheses exist.
The greenspace sector includes a broad range of occupations: gardeners, landscapers, municipal workers, maintenance operators of public facilities, golf-course employees and other sports facilities, ...horticulturists, plant and tree nursery workers etc. The health impact of occupational pesticide exposure has mainly been studied among farmers. Other professionals such as greenspace workers are also extremely exposed, presenting specific exposure features (practices, types of pesticide used). The aim of this review was to summarize epidemiological literature that examine the relationship between pesticide exposure and the risk of cancer and long-term health effects in greenspace workers.
Six main groups of greenspace workers were identified and examined through a systematic literature review based on PubMed and Scopus. The studies were then grouped according to their design, health outcomes and the type of population studied.
Forty-four articles were selected among the 1679 identified. Fifteen studies were conducted exclusively among greenspace workers, while ten also studied these workers with other pesticide applicators. Six were cohorts from the general population in which greenspace workers were identified. Elevated risks were found in several studies for leukaemia, soft-tissue sarcoma, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Parkinson's disease.
The majority of studies used rough parameters for defining exposure such as job titles which could lead to the misclassification of exposure, with the risk of false or positive negative conclusions. Health outcomes were mainly collected through registries or death certificates, and information regarding potential confounders was often missing.
The review identified only 15 studies conducted exclusively among greenspace workers. Elevated risk was found for several sites of cancer and Parkinson's diseases. Further epidemiological research is needed, conducted specifically on these workers, to better characterize this population, its exposure to pesticides and the related health effects.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
•Cost, availability, and dangerous discomfort may make instructions to use PPE inapplicable.•The effectiveness of coveralls is not confirmed when PPE wearing practices are not ...controlled.•Nanotechnologies and low-dose effects are not considered in the assessment of PPE effectiveness.•The protective role attributed to PPE in the marketing authorisation of PPP should be questioned.
Personal protection equipment (PPE) holds a privileged position in safety interventions in many countries, despite the fact that they should only be used as a last resort. This is even more paradoxical because many concerns have arisen as to their actual effectiveness under working conditions and their ability to provide the protection attributed to them by certain occupational safety strategies and marketing authorisation procedures. Are these concerns justified? This article is intended to provide an update on what we know of the issue based on a critical analysis of the literature to date.
Analysis focuses on the assessment of the effectiveness of coveralls used to protect from plant protection products in OECD countries. All forms of assessment were retained: discussion of the observed effectiveness of PPE in relation to the underlying assumptions of marketing authorisation procedures, laboratory tests of equipment, practical field tests in which PPE-wearing practices were controlled and uncontrolled, analyses of the efficiency of preventive instructions based on wearing such coveralls.
Findings show that recommending the use of PPE is key to the granting of marketing authorisation. Some dangerous products only get marketing authorisation because it is assumed that wearing PPE will considerably limit exposure. They would be banned if it were not for this assumption of protection. However the actual effectiveness of PPE in working conditions may be over-estimated. In addition many factors (cost, availability, thermic and mechanical discomfort) may make instructions to wear PPE inapplicable. Advising the use of PPE does not always mean effective protection.
Full text
Available for:
GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
IntroductionGreenspace workers are exposed to many occupational hazards, including pesticides. Few epidemiological studies have been conducted among these workers, most of them using rough exposure ...parameters. Thus, improvement in exposure assessment is crucial to expand our knowledge on greenspace workers’ health. Our objectives were to i) define past pesticide exposures in greenspace workers and ii) characterise present exposure levels in real work conditions. This project has received funding from the French National Research Agency.MethodsTo identify pesticides used in the past, we explored various historical data sources that enabled to increment the crop-exposure matrix PESTIMAT (France) with molecules used in greenspaces since 1950. For each molecule, the probability, the frequency and the intensity of use were estimated on an annual basis. To characterise present exposures, field studies in real work conditions were conducted among municipal workers and gardeners in 2011 and in a plant nursery in 2022 during treatment tasks. Dermal exposure was assessed using patches placed onto the skin and cotton gloves. Detailed information on the tasks were collected to identify determinants of exposure.ResultsFifty active ingredients used in greenspaces (including pyrethrinoids, organochlorines, carbamates, dinitroanilines, etc.) have been added into PESTIMAT to date. The field studies were conducted among 24 municipal workers applying glyphosate with knapsacks and among six plant nursery workers applying insecticides (bifenazate, azoxystrobine and difenoconazole), fungicides (boscalid and pyraclostrobine) and the herbicide glyphosate. Analyses of dosimeters are ongoing and will be linked with the detailed characteristics we collected on workers, tasks, conditions of work, equipment and practices.ConclusionThe data we generated on the types of molecules and exposure levels will help to build metrics for pesticide exposures in greenspace workers, usable in epidemiological studies. Associations between the use of specific active ingredients and cancer occurrence will be studied in existing cohorts.
IntroductionSuccinate dehydrogenase inhibitors (SDHIs) and strobilurins are two groups of fungicides introduced in the 1990s and 2000s to the agricultural market, including overall around 24 ...molecules. A deficiency in the subunit of a SDHI-blocked enzyme has been observed in cases of K idney Cancer (KC). We aimed at assessing the incidence of KC in individuals exposed to these fungicides within the AGRICAN cohort (N=181 842 participants).Material and MethodsIncident KCs were identified from enrolment (2005-2007) to December 2017. Pesticide exposures of interest were identified by cross-referencing the PESTIMAT tables with the AGRICAN enrollment questionnaire (exact years of start and end of pesticide use (in the field or on seeds) on 10 different crops). Cox models with age as a time scale were used.ResultsFive SDHIs and 3 strobilurins had been used, on crops (vineyard, potato, fruit, corn, peas and wheat/barley), for at least 5 years prior to enrolment, with respectively 114 and 89 exposed KC in males. Analyzing the specific use of SDHIs and strobilurins on crops, we reported positive associations: (i) for SDHIs: Fenfuram (HR 1.50 (1.04-2.16)), Oxycarboxin (HR 1.49 (1.10-2.00)) and Carboxin (HR 1.44 (1.06-1.96)). (ii) for strobilurins: Famoxadone (HR 3.5 (2.4-5.06)), Azoxystrobin (HR 3.20 (2.30-4.50)) and Kresoxim-Methyl (HR 2.6 (1.89-3.48)). Duration effect was positive for Fenfuram and Mepronil and all 3 strobilurins.ConclusionWe observed positive associations between KCs and some SDHIs and strobilurin use in male farmers. We had too few females directly exposed to these fungicides. Next steps should include a cluster analysis and score considering the frequency, intensity and probability of using the pesticides under study.
Abstract Introduction Pesticide exposure increases the risk of chronic disease among farmers. Understanding exposure is necessary for epidemiological and regulatory purposes. Since 2014, worker ...exposure has been assessed in the registration process by EFSA, using the OPEX model. Data specific to fruit-growing workers is limited to five European studies conducted in the 1980s by pesticide companies, among others. We compared exposure predicted in the regulations with that measured in field studies. Methods In 2016-2017, dermal exposure to captan and dithianon was measured in French farmers during 121 days of re-entry (net folding and deployment, thinning) and harvest, using patches and cotton gloves. Exposure was calculated using several parameters (task, personal protective equipment (PPE), treatment schedules). Exposure was recalculated from dislodgeable foliar residues (RDF) measured 2 to 312 days after application in 20 observations. Relationships between measured and calculated exposures were studied by linear regression. Results Exposure depended on PPE worn and tasks performed (thinning, net folding > harvest, net deployment) due to differences in pesticide accumulation on plants over the season. Most exposures calculated using default settings were 100 times higher than measured exposure. The model underestimated exposure recalculated with measured DFR in all observations for dithianon and almost all for captan. Discussion In the regulatory process, re-entry exposure is only calculated when it occurs immediately after application. Exposure measured up to 300 days after application was never zero. When re-entry was not immediate after application, the model underestimated exposure. Conclusion This demonstrates the importance of using field studies in the registration process to ensure a truly conservative approach.
Abstract
Background
Pesticides are commonly used in agriculture, and previous studies endorsed the need to further investigate the possible association between their use and risk of lymphoid ...malignancies in agricultural workers.
Methods
We investigated the relationship of ever use of 14 selected pesticide chemical groups and 33 individual active chemical ingredients with non-Hodgkin lymphoid malignancies (NHL) overall or major subtypes, in a pooled analysis of three large agricultural worker cohorts. Pesticide use was derived from self-reported history of crops cultivated combined with crop-exposure matrices (France and Norway) or self-reported lifetime use of active ingredients (USA). Cox regression models were used to estimate cohort-specific hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), which were combined using random effects meta-analysis to calculate meta-HRs.
Results
During follow-up, 2430 NHL cases were diagnosed in 316 270 farmers accruing 3 574 815 person-years under risk. Most meta-HRs suggested no association. Moderately elevated meta-HRs were seen for: NHL and ever use of terbufos (meta-HR = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.00–1.39); chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma and deltamethrin (1.48, 1.06–2.07); and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and glyphosate (1.36, 1.00–1.85); as well as inverse associations of NHL with the broader groups of organochlorine insecticides (0.86, 0.74–0.99) and phenoxy herbicides (0.81, 0.67–0.98), but not with active ingredients within these groups, after adjusting for exposure to other pesticides.
Conclusions
Associations of pesticides with NHL appear to be subtype- and chemical-specific. Non-differential exposure misclassification was an important limitation, showing the need for refinement of exposure estimates and exposure–response analyses.
IntroductionExisting epidemiological studies have suggested a positive association between agricultural exposure to carbamates and risks of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL); however, the association ...remains inconclusive with most studies lacking statistical power to examine specific carbamates and subtypes of NHL.ObjectivesWe estimated the associations between carbamate insecticides and the risks of NHL overall and three major histological subtypes, multiple myeloma (MM), chronic lymphocytic leukaemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL-SLL), and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in the French prospective Agriculture and Cancer cohort (AGRICAN).MethodsAt enrolment (2005–2007), participants completed a questionnaire on lifetime occupational history of agricultural practices, lifestyle habits, and medical history and were followed up until 2015 through linkage to the cancer registries. Information on pesticide use for different agricultural activities (crops, animals, barns, seeds) was crossed with the French crop-exposure matrix, PESTIMAT, enabling us to assess exposure to 19 specific carbamates (e.g., carbaryl, carbofuran) by type of activity. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for NHL overall and its subtypes in relation to activity-specific exposure to carbamates (ever/never, duration) by fitting multivariate Cox proportional hazards models with age as the time scale. Non-users of pesticides were chosen as the reference group.ResultsDuring the follow-up (median=8.9 years), 533 incident cases of NHL (MM=125, CLL-SLL=134, DLBCL=72) were diagnosed. Ever use of carbaryl on animals (HR=1.84, 95% CI=1.05–3.24) or barns (HR=1.86, 95% CI=1.06–3.27) were significantly associated with an increased risk of MM, but not for crops (HR=1.24, 95% CI=0.70–2.19). No significant trend by exposure duration were observed. None of the other carbamate insecticides were significantly associated with the risk of MM, CLL, DLBCL or NHL overall.ConclusionUse of carbaryl on livestock production may lead to an increased risk of MM. Studies on activity-specific exposure pathways and levels are warranted to better understand the observed association.
IntroductionFarmers, particularly in Europe, are exposed to multiple pesticides during their working life. Such exposures can cause adverse health outcomes. The most relevant pesticides mixtures to ...which French general population is exposed through diet were described last years. We aimed to identify main pesticides mixtures to which French agricultural workers are exposed to, and to classify farmers into clusters based on their mixture exposure profile.Material and MethodsAGRICAN cohort includes agricultural workers enrolled by questionnaire in 2005–2007, with information on exact year of beginning and end of pesticide use on 13 crops and 5 livestock. We estimated exposure duration to 391 pesticides identified using PESTIMAT crop-exposure matrix for 16,905 men, from 1950 to 2009. We used a Sparse Non-negative Matrix Under-approximation to identify main molecules mixtures based on exposure duration, then, a hierarchical agglomerative clustering to classify farmers sharing similar co-exposure profiles to identified mixtures.ResultsCriterion of relevance and quality of interpretation suggested optimal number of mixtures: from 4 to 45 explaining from 27 to 93% of total variance. We selected 25 mixtures, the best compromise with an explained variance of 83%. Most of identified mixtures contained between 6 to 20 substances. Main mixtures were mostly used on wheat/barley, vine and fruit growing, the two majors mixtures were largely composed of phenoxy herbicides and organophosphorus. Hierarchical clustering method suggested 3 clusters composed of 3,261 to 8,363 men with maximum part of exposure to mixture for cluster 3 to the 1st mixture (11%).ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first study identifying pesticides mixtures in famers and classifying them into clusters based on their mixture exposure profiles. In a second step, we will aim to describe characteristics of the clusters and to study the associations between pesticides mixtures and health outcomes as prostate cancer within AGRICAN cohort.
Abstract Introduction Preventing farmers’ exposure to pesticides is a major public health issue. Wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) is one effective means of prevention among others. ...However, available data show that PPE are not always used by farmers. The aim of this study is to investigate the structural and psychosociological determinants of PPE use, in order to identify ways of improving farmer training. Methods 163 French farmers (winegrowers or open-field farmers) responded to a telephone survey. The questionnaire was divided into 12 parts, covering pesticide knowledge, psychological constructs (beliefs, attitudes, social norms, self-efficacy, health locus of control), and individual and professional aspects. The association with the PPE use (gloves, body protection) was studied by logistic regression. Results Participants were males, farm owners (82%), average age 50, had a low education level (59%), a pesticide certificate (92%), reported performing all their treatments (80%) and using gloves more systematically (60%) than body protection (20%). PPE use was associated with low barriers perceived to self-protection, high perception that peers protect themselves (descriptive social norms) but not with knowledge levels. Body protection use was associated with being a winegrower, working on small farms, high perceived ability to protect oneself and thinking that peers or family expect them to protect themselves (subjective social norms). Discussion and conclusion Determinants of other behaviours (hand washing, product label reading) will be analysed. This analysis enabled us to consider ways of improving farmer training: practical work to reduce perceived barriers and improve perceived ability to use PPE, discussion groups or peer training to change perceived social norms.
PDF
