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Mon 04 Jun 2007
Agence France Presse
French study boosts link between pesticides, brain cancer
PARIS, June 5, 2007 (AFP) - Farmworkers exposed to high levels of
pesticides, as well as home gardeners who use these chemicals to kill
insects and fungus on their house plants, run a higher risk of brain
cancer, according to a study released on Tuesday.
Researchers in southwestern France looked at 221 cases of brain
tumours and matched those cases with 442 healthy individuals of
similar age and background from the general population.
They found that all agriculture workers exposed to pesticides had a
slightly elevated risk to the disease compared with healthy
counterparts.
Those exposed to the highest levels of the chemicals ran more than
twice the risk, and especially so with a form of cancer known as
glioma, which is rapidly lethal.
A "significant increase" in cancer risk was also seen among people who
treated house plants with pesticides.
The study, released online Tuesday by the British journal Occupational
and Environmental Medicine, adds to previous investigations into the
link between pesticides and cancer.
The research took place in the Bordeaux wine-growing region, where 80
percent of all pesticides used are fungicides. The chemicals are mixed
and sprayed in a mist to protect vines from fungus attack.
ri/mb
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1. Using pesticide sprays in
the home 'could double risk of brain tumours'
By FIONA MACRAE
4th June 2007
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=459938&in_page_id=1965
Using pesticides on house plants could more than double your risk of
developing a brain tumour, a study suggests.
Those who use fly sprays, weedkillers and other chemical treatments on
their pot-plants are 2.25 times more likely to develop brain cancer,
the findings show.
Around 5,000 Britons are diagnosed with brain tumours each year. Some
can be removed by surgery, but others can cause death quickly.
Little is known about the causes of most brain tumours.
The study - one of the biggest of its kind - suggests that chemicals
found in pesticides play a role.
The findings come a week after British researchers warned that using
pesticides while gardening could increase the risk of Parkinson's
disease by more than 40 per cent.
In the latest study, French researchers asked more than 200 male and
female patients with brain tumours about their past use of pesticides
at work and at home.
They compared the answers with those given by a healthy group of
similar age and upbringing.
It was found that those who had used pesticides on house plants were
more than twice as likely to have developed a brain tumour.
The study, published in the journal Occupational and Environmental
Medicine, also found a clear link between pesticide use at work and ill
health.
Overall, farm workers had almost a 30 per cent increased risk of
developing a brain tumour.
But those who had used pesticides the most had more than twice the risk.
The researchers, from Victor Segalen University in Bordeaux, concluded:
"These figures suggest that a high level of occupational exposure to
pesticides might be associated with an excess risk of brain tumours.
"Treatment of house plants was also associated with an increased risk
of brain tumour.
"It is of concern that they are sprayed in closed dwellings and are
recommended for use every week."
They added that further research was needed as they could not rule out
that differences in diet or exposure to chemicals in household cleaning
agents had an effect on tumour development.
Nor could they pinpoint which products or chemicals were damaging the
brain.
Georgina Downs, of the UK Pesticides Campaign, said: "This is a clear
warning for people to think of other methods to keep plants free of
bugs."
The Crop Protection Association, which represents pesticide
manufacturers, said there was no conclusive link between pesticides and
brain tumours.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=459938&in_page_id=1965
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