Common pesticides associated with allergic and nonallergic wheezing in farmers -
New research from North Carolina State University connects several pesticides commonly used by farmers in both allergic wheeze and non-allergic, which can be a sensitive marker for the first respiratory problems.
NC State epidemiologist Jane Hoppin and colleagues at the National Institute of Sciences Environmental Health (NIEHS), the National Cancer Institute, Westat and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) used interview data from 05 - 2010 Agricultural Health Study (AHS) to assess the association between allergic and nonallergic wheezing and 78 pesticides. AHS is a longitudinal study of farmers and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. For the purposes of this analysis, the researchers used data that male farmers.
In the current study, 22.134 farmers reported that the pesticides they used last year, and specific respiratory symptoms they had experienced. allergic wheeze was defined as reporting both wheezing and hay fever diagnosed by a doctor, while the non-allergic wheezing was defined as wheezing reports but not hay fever. The researchers used this information in statistical models to compare the control group - farmers who had never used the pesticide in question -. To those who had used, and compare wheezing frequency is allergic or nonallergic
The 78 pesticides included 45 herbicides and growth regulators of plants, 25 insecticides, fungicides six, fumigants and rodenticides. Of the 78 assessed, 29 were associated with at least one type of wheezing: 19 were significantly associated with allergic wheezing, 21 with non-allergic wheeze and 11 were significantly associated with both
in the group of herbicides, 18 were associated with at least one wheezing result, 14 with non-allergic wheeze and 10 with allergic wheezing. Glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in the world, has been associated with two types of wheezing. Interestingly, the herbicide glufosinate ammonium, less frequently used was not associated with each type of wheezing.
In the insecticide group, nine of the 25 were associated with at least one type of wheezing. Permethrin and pyrethrins were associated with these two types of wheezing. And in the group fungicide, rodenticide and fumigant, none were associated with non-allergic wheezing, and only the rodenticide warfarin was associated with allergic wheezing.
"This is the most comprehensive list of pesticides in connection with wheezing that has been evaluated to date," said Hoppin. "Fifty-one of the pesticides we tested in this study has never was analyzed in terms of their effects on respiratory outcomes. And some of them, such as glyphosate, 2,4-D and permethrin, are not only used on farms. They 'are used residentially now to kill weeds or treat fleas on pets. We believe it is important that the information will help people make decisions about pesticides. "
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