Pesticiden en hersentumoren en de ziekte van Parkinson*
Uit twee studies blijkt dat pesticiden niet zo goed zijn voor uw hersenen, ze kunnen hersenkanker bij kinderen en de ziekte van Parkinson bij ouderen veroorzaken. In de eerste studie werd gekeken naar het thuisgebruik van pesticiden zoals insectendodende middelen, onkruidverdelgers en anti-schimmelmiddelen. Kinderen van ouders die twee jaar voorafgaande aan de geboorte met pesticiden in aanraking waren gekomen hadden duidelijk meer kans op het krijgen van een vorm van hersenkanker. In de tweede studie werden gekeken naar het op het werk blootgesteld worden aan verschillende pesticiden. Afhankelijk van het soort pesticiden was door die blootstellingen de kans op de ziekte van Parkinson bijna 200 tot ruim 250% groter.
Pesticides Cause Childhood Brain Cancers
Children living with parents who use pesticides around the home are significantly more likely to develop brain cancer than children who are not exposed to such chemicals, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Researchers matched each of 400 fathers and 250 mothers who reported having been exposed to pesticide products -- including insecticide, herbicide and fungicide -- with a non-exposed person of the same sex, age and status. All participants lived in residential areas of Florida, New Jersey, New York or Pennsylvania. None of them lived in New York City. All were parents of children who had participated in the Atlantic Coast childhood brain cancer
study.
The scientists further evaluated each participant's level of exposure over the two years prior to the birth of their child by means of a phone interview featuring more detailed questions about home or work use of pesticides. Most "exposed" participants were exposed to pesticides through home use -- such as garden or lawn care -- rather than
professionally.
The researchers found that children whose parents had been exposed to pesticides were significantly more likely to develop brain cancers, including astrocytomas and primitive neuroectodermal tumors. The risk of astrocytoma was especially increased by the use of herbicides.
Among "exposed" fathers, those who wore protective clothing or who washed immediately after pesticide use were significantly less likely to have children who developed brain
cancer.
Prior studies have linked prenatal pesticide exposure to brain cancer, and the chemicals have also been linked to cancer in a number of animal studies. Researchers do not know exactly how the chemicals lead to cancer, but many pesticides are known to exhibit mutagenic, hormone mimicking or immune-hampering effects. The developing bodies of fetuses and children are especially susceptible to these effects.
Brain cancer is the second most common childhood cancer, after leukemia.
Sources for this story include: www.environmentalhealthnews.org.
Occupation and Risk of Parkinsonism
A Multicenter Case-Control Study
Caroline M. Tanner, MD, PhD; G. Webster Ross, MD; Sarah A. Jewell, MD, MPH; Robert A. Hauser, MD; Joseph Jankovic, MD; Stewart A. Factor, DO; Susan Bressman, MD; Amanda Deligtisch, MD; Connie Marras, MD, PhD, FRCPC; Kelly E. Lyons, PhD; Grace S. Bhudhikanok, PhD; Diana F. Roucoux, MPH; Cheryl Meng, MS; Robert D. Abbott, PhD; J. William Langston, MD
Arch Neurol. 2009;66(9):1106-1113.
Background We examined risk of parkinsonism in occupations (agriculture, education, health care, welding, and mining) and toxicant exposures (solvents and pesticides) putatively associated with parkinsonism.
Objective To investigate occupations, specific job tasks, or exposures and risk of parkinsonism and clinical subtypes.
Design Case-control.
Setting Eight movement disorders centers in North America.
Participants Inclusion criteria were parkinsonism ( 2 cardinal signs), diagnosis within 8 years of recruitment (to minimize survival bias), and ability to participate in detailed telephone interviews. Control subjects were primarily nonblood relatives or acquaintances of patients.
Main Outcome Measures This multicenter case-control study compared lifelong occupational and job task histories to determine associations with parkinsonism and certain clinical subtypes (postural instability and gait difficulty and age at diagnosis 50 years).
Results Findings in 519 cases and 511 controls were analyzed. Work in agriculture, education, health care, or welding was not associated with increased risk of parkinsonism. Unexpected increased risks associated with legal, construction and extraction, or religious occupations were not maintained after adjustment for duration. Risk of parkinsonism increased with pesticide use (odds ratio, 1.90; 95% confidence interval, 1.12-3.21), use of any of 8 pesticides mechanistically associated with experimental parkinsonism (2.20; 1.02-4.75), and use of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2.59; 1.03-6.48). None of the specific occupations, job tasks, or task-related exposures were associated with younger age at diagnosis ( 50 years). Ever working in business and finance, legal occupations, construction and extraction, or transportation and material moving was associated with postural instability and gait difficulty subtype of parkinsonism. Tobacco use was inversely associated with parkinsonism risk.
Conclusion The association of disease risk with pesticides support a toxicant-induced cause of
parkinsonism. (November
2009)
