Pesticide use and incident hyperthyroidism in farmers in the Agricultural Health Study. Issue 5 (25th February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shrestha, Srishti; Parks, Christine G; Goldner, Whitney S; Kamel, Freya; Umbach, David M; Ward, Mary H; Lerro, Catherine C; Koutros, Stella; Hofmann, Jonathan N; Beane Freeman, Laura E; Sandler, Dale P
• Is Part Of: Occupational and environmental medicine. Volume 76:Issue 5(2019)
• Page Start: 332
• Page End: 335
• Publication Date: 2019-02-25
• Subjects: pesticides -- hyperthyroidism -- Agricultural Health Study; Medicine, Industrial -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; 616.980305
• DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2018-105518
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1351-0711

Abstract

Abstract : Background: Few studies have evaluated associations between pesticides and hyperthyroidism. Objective: We evaluated associations between specific pesticides and incident hyperthyroidism in private pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Methods: We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate HRs and 95% CIs for associations between pesticide use at enrolment and hyperthyroidism (n=271) in 35 150 applicators (mostly men), adjusting for potential confounders. Results: Ever use of several pesticides (organophosphate insecticide malathion, fungicide maneb/mancozeb, herbicides dicamba, metolachlor, and atrazine in overall sample and chlorimuron ethyl among those ≤62 years) was associated with reduced hyperthyroidism risk, with HRs ranging from 0.50 (95% CI 0.30 to 0.83) for maneb/mancozeb to 0.77 (95% CI 0.59 to 1.00) for atrazine. Hyperthyroidism risk was lowest among those with higher intensity-weighted lifetime days of using carbofuran and chlorpyrifos (ptrend ≤0.05). Conclusions: Observed associations between pesticides and decreased risk of hyperthyroidism warrant further investigation.