Cancer incidence among male pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study cohort exposed to diazinon.

Abstract

Little is known about the potential carcinogenicity associated with routine application of diazinon, a common organophosphate insecticide. The authors explored a possible association of diazinon exposure with cancer risk in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective cohort of licensed pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina enrolled in 1993-1997. A total of 23,106 male applicators provided information in a self-administered questionnaire. Among 4,961 applicators who reported using diazinon, 301 incident cancer cases were diagnosed during the follow-up period ending December 2002 compared with 968 cases among 18,145 participants who reported no use. Poisson regression was used to calculate rate ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Two quantitative exposure metrics were used: lifetime exposure days and intensity-weighted lifetime exposure days, a measure that incorporates probability of pesticide exposure with lifetime pesticide application frequency. When lifetime exposure days were used, increased risks for the highest tertile of exposure and significant tests for trend for lung cancer and leukemia were observed. No other cancer site showed an association with diazinon for the highest tertile of exposure. Because these results were based on small numbers, additional analyses are necessary as more cases accrue to clarify whether diazinon is associated with cancer risk in humans.

• Authors: Laura E Beane Freeman, Matthew R Bonner, Aaron Blair, Jane A Hoppin, Dale P Sandler, Jay H Lubin, Mustafa Dosemeci, Charles F Lynch, Charles Knott, Michael C R Alavanja
• Journal: American journal of epidemiology (Am J Epidemiol) Vol. 162 Issue 11 Pg. 1070-9 (Dec 01 2005) ISSN: 0002-9262 [Print] United States
• PMID: 16236997 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural)

Chemical References

• Insecticides
• Diazinon

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Agricultural Workers' Diseases (chemically induced, epidemiology)
• Cohort Studies
• Comorbidity
• Confidence Intervals
• Diazinon (toxicity)
• Humans
• Incidence
• Insecticides (toxicity)
• Iowa (epidemiology)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Models, Statistical
• Neoplasms (chemically induced, epidemiology)
• North Carolina (epidemiology)
• Occupational Exposure (adverse effects, statistics & numerical data)
• Prospective Studies
• Risk Factors
• Smoking (epidemiology)