Research by National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the
National Cancer Institute have determined that
long-term exposure to pesticides heightens diabetes-risk. Bridget M. Kuehn of the
Journal of the American Medical Association reports:
The study involved more than 33,000 licensed pesticide applicators enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study, who provided information about lifetime exposure and their medical history. An analysis of the data revealed that exposure to 7 pesticides—aldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, dichlorvos, trichlorfon, alachlor, and cyanazine—increased the workers' odds of developing diabetes and that the incidence of diabetes increased with cumulative days of exposure.
Dale Sandler, PhD, chief of the NIEHS’s epidemiology branch, points out that pesticide exposure is just another factor that contributes to diabetes, like obesity, lack of exercise and family history. Here’s the actual study, via
Epidemiology:
Incident Diabetes and Pesticide Exposure among Licensed Pesticide Applicators.
