The researchers compared the risks of pesticides to the known cancer risk associated with smoking cigarettes to provide an easily understood measure of risk.Pesticides are an essential feature of modern-day agriculture resulting in robust crop yields on which the planet’s food security depends. It spotlights the inherent danger in relying on them.They identified pesticides reported in each area, and cancer cases, as well as the incidence of cigarette smoking and other possible factors.
Though individual pesticides have been linked to cancers, the study emphasizes that mixtures of pesticides — the manner in which they’re typically delivered to crops — significantly multiply their carcinogenic risk.
States such as Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Missouri exemplified the strongest pesticide/cancer links, suggesting a connection between the corn grown in the area and the carcinogenic risk in its production. The study also spotlights fruit production in California and Florida.
The study is published in Frontiers in Cancer Control and Society.Until this study, investigations of the pesticide/cancer connection have primarily focused on subsets of community populations, such as farmers and their spouses. This is the first comprehensive look at pesticides’ effect on the health of entire communities.
Perhaps the best-known pesticide considered in the study is Glyphosate, which is marketed as Roundup, and has been linked in some studies to lymphoma.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified Glyphosate as a probable carcinogen and $11 billion was awarded to plaintiffs suing over its use.However, the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s Agricultural Health Study of 88,000 farmers and their spouses found no link between Glyphosphate and cancers.
The new study concluded that the frequent use of Glyphosate was associated with a higher risk of all cancers, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
Similarly, all cancers, colon cancer, and lung cancer were linked to the use of Imazethapyr. Metolachlor, Metolachlor-S, and the combination of both were consistently associated with all cancers, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer. The study underscores the multiplying effects of pesticide combinations in potential carcinogenesis. When there’s more exposure to chemicals, there’s a higher risk of cancer because all of these pesticides are potential carcinogens.
The more exposure, the length of exposure, and the different chemicals combined can increase the risk of damage to the DNA or similar signal pathways. Cancer is a multi-step process. Sometimes it takes multiple hits. Not everybody gets cancer, but some people might be more vulnerable than others. It’s oxidative stress from pesticides that causes DNA damage and disruption in cellular signaling pathways.
As an example, certain pesticides can lead to the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and this reactive oxygen causes damage to the DNA, protein, and lipids. This basically leads to mutations, alteration, gene expression, and ultimately carcinogenesis. We know the problem with cancer is developing mutations in the genome which lead to abnormal protein and carcinogenesis.
