STUDY
SHOWS HERBICIDES INCREASE RISK OF
NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA
(Beyond Pesticides,
October 14, 2008) Exposure to glyphosate
or MCPA can more than double one’s risk
of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma
(NHL), according to a
new epidemiological study published
in the October issue of the
International Journal of Cancer.
The case-control study finds a 2.02 odds
ratio (OR) for exposure (two times the
chance of contracting the illness) to
glyphosate, a 2.81 OR for exposure
to
MCPA, and a 1.72 OR for exposure to
herbicides. According to
EPA, glyphosate is the most commonly
used pesticide in the U.S. with 103 to
113 million pounds used annually. MCPA
is a phenoxyacetic acid pesticide, a
family of pesticides that has previously
been linked to cancer and includes
2,4-D and
mecoprop (MCPP).
NHL is a cancer of the immune system.
There are several different types of
NHL, which are differentiated by the
type of immune cell that is cancerous,
the characteristics of the cancerous
cell, and different genetic mutations of
the cancerous cells. Treatment for NHL
varies depending on NHL type, patient
age, and other existing medical
conditions. The incidence of NHL has
been increasing over the past several
decades.
The link between pesticides and
cancer has long been a concern. While
agriculture has traditionally been tied
to pesticide-related illnesses, 19 of 30
commonly used
lawn pesticides and 24 of 48
commonly used
school pesticides are probable or
possible carcinogens. The consistency of
the scientific findings linking
pesticide exposure to cancer raises
serious questions about their allowed
use.
In 2002, the same researchers
published a
study that shows an increased risk
to NHL from exposure to certain
pesticides: a 1.75 OR for herbicides, a
3.11 OR for fungicides, a 3.04 OR for
glyphosate, and a 2.62 OR for MCPA. And
even earlier, in 1999,
another study by these researchers,
published by the American Cancer
Society, finds an increased risk of NHL
for people exposed to common herbicides
and fungicides, particularly MCPP.
People exposed to glyphosate are 2.7
times more likely to develop NHL.
NHL has been linked to pesticides in
other studies as well, including 2,4-D,
the
most commonly used nonagricultural
herbicide. A
2007 case-control study published in
Environmental Health Perspectives
finds that children born to mothers
living in households with pesticide use
during pregnancy have over twice as much
risk of getting cancer, specifically
acute leukemia (AL) or NHL. A study
published in a 2001 issue of Cancer
also correlates an increased risk
of NHL with exposure to household
pesticides. The study examined pesticide
exposure routes to children either
through the mother while she was
pregnant, or directly to the child.
Exposed children showed a three to seven
time greater likelihood of developing
NHL, as compared to unexposed children.
In studying different types of NHL, the
researchers found that household
insecticide use was correlated to a
greater risk of lymphoblastic lymphoma
by 12.5 times.
Researchers at the Northwestern
University, University of Nebraska
Medical Center, and the National Cancer
Institute find that agricultural
exposure to insecticides, herbicides,
and fumigants are associated with a 2.6
to 5.0 fold increase in the incidence of
t(14;18)-positive NHL (refers to a
specific genetic alteration in a type of
NHL).
Avoid carcinogenic herbicides in
foods by supporting
organic agriculture, and on
lawns by using non-toxic land care
strategies that rely on soil health, not
toxic herbicides.
Cancer
Risks - Lawn Chemicals
Professor Dominique Belpomme,
a medical oncologist from the University of Paris, has
new research showing that environmental exposures to
pesticides and other contaminants are now more
significant as a cause of cancer than tobacco. He
summarised his findings during the PAN Europe network
members’ conference in Copenhagen.
IARC, the
International Agency for Cancer Research, now considers
data showing environmental pollutants such as pesticides
are more significant in causing cancer than previously
thought.
This is an important milestone for a team of French
scientists who have challenged the orthodox notion that
tobacco is still the main cause of cancer across all the
industrialised nations.
Primary prevention policies
‘It is now clear that these
environmental factors account for the increased
incidence of cancers in all industrialised countries,’
said Professor Dominique Belpomme, a medical oncologist
and president of the French Association for Research on
Treatments Against Cancer (ARTAC).
‘Public health policies in these countries must now
focus on the relationship between environment and
health, as the French Government is doing. Realistic
primary prevention policies should be introduced with
the aim of avoiding the deleterious factors which we
introduce into the environment.’
Tobacco less important
Before his data had been
published and accepted by the French scientific
community, Professor Belpomme spoke at the PAN Europe
network members’ conference in Copenhagen. In his
speech, Professor Belpomme explained why tobacco is now
being considered less significant as the main cause of
cancer.
In 1981,
Sir Richard Peto and Sir Richard Doll, the famous
British researchers, estimated that tobacco accounted
for about 30% of mortality by cancer. But Professor
Belpomme has calculated that in France, tobacco now only
causes between 15 and 20% of new cases of cancer. Deaths
from such cancers are between 18% and 22%. These figures
would be similar in other industrialised countries, and
Professor Belpomme argued that governments in these
countries should now focus more on the relationship
between the environment and health.
In
France, deaths from cancer have doubled since the Second
World War and now stand at 150,000 people each year. At
the same time, cancer incidence has increased
dramatically during the last 20 years and there are now
280,000 new cases a year. Cancers due to occupational
exposure represent no more than 5% to 6% of cases.
Genetic factors account for no more than 5% of cases,
and it had been shown that some viral contaminations
could explain the occurrence of 10% of the cases,
including primary liver cancer, leukaemia and lymphoma.
Natural and artificial radioactivity could account for
another 10% of cancer cases, including soft tissue
sarcoma, leukaemia and lymphoma.
Environmental pollution
‘These factors alone cannot
contribute to the recent increase in cancer incidence.
So, it is clear that environmental factors are involved,
mainly through food and/or atmospheric pollution in
cities, at home or at work.’ In France, between 70% and
80% of cancers are now due to environmental pollution
from chemicals such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,
polyvinyl chloride, some heavy metals, nitrates,
nitrites, dioxins, some food additives and pesticides.
Some
pesticides have been classified as carcinogenic by
international organisations including the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) of the US and the IARC based in
Lyons, France (an agency of the World Health
Organisation).
‘Furthermore, an increasing number of epidemiological
hot spot studies strongly suggest that pesticide
exposure is associated with several types of cancers,
including leukaemia, soft tissue sarcoma, brain tumours,
testicular cancer and child cancers. The involvement of
pesticides in the increased incidence of prostate or
breast cancers has still to be determined.’
Professor
Belpomme argued that the precautionary principle demands
that pesticides classified as carcinogenic by IARC and
the US EPA should be prohibited. The prohibition should
cover US EPA groups L1 (likely to cause cancer at high
doses) and L2 (likely to be carcinogenic to people) and
groups I (carcinogenic to humans), IIA (probably
carcinogenic to humans) and IIB (possibly carcinogenic
to humans).
Professor
Belpomme represents PAN Europe on the European
Commission’s Environment and Health Strategy technical
working group on endocrine disruptors, which has
concentrated on the integrated monitoring of endocrine
disrupting chemicals: he has written a letter to the
group chairman and other members pointing out the need
to consider the cancer causing properties of these
chemicals as well as their endocrine disrupting ones.
Database of pesticide effects
Finally, Professor Belpomme
explained that he is contributing to the French national
anti-cancer programme agreed by President Jacques Chirac
and run by the French health ministry. Professor
Belpomme is in charge of the environmental part of the
programme, and has already argued that pesticides should
be a top priority. He asked PAN Europe to help by
contributing to a ‘scientifically sound’ database
linking pesticides to their health effects. To discuss
his concerns further, Professor Belpomme and ARTAC have
organised an international meeting on the links between
cancer and the environment – examining the role of
pesticides in particular – on 7 May this year in Paris.
Les grands défis de la politique de santé en France
et en Europe, D Belpomme, Ecologie et Santé, Editions
Librairie de Médicis, France, 2003. Ces maladies créées
par l’homme. Comment la dégradation de l’environnement
met en péril notre santé, D Belpomme and Bernard
Pascuito, 2004.
Prof. Belpomme can be contacted at ARTAC, 57-59 rue de
la Convention, 75015, Paris, France email
artac@cerc.wanadoo.fr,
| |
POISONED PROFITS
THE TOXIC ASSAULT ON OUR CHILDREN
|
|
.gif)
