TY - JOUR
T1 - S-ethyl-N,N-dipropylthiocarbamate exposure and cancer incidence among male pesticide applicators in the agricultural health study
T2 - A prospective cohort
AU - van Bemmel, Dana M.
AU - Visvanathan, Kala
AU - Beane Freeman, Laura E.
AU - Coble, Joseph
AU - Hoppin, Jane A.
AU - Alavanja, Michael C.R.
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Background: The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is a prospective cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators from Iowa and North Carolina enrolled between 1993 and 1997. EPTC (S-ethyl-N,N-dipropylthiocarbamate) is a thiocarbamate herbicide used in every region of the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that EPTC is most likely not a human carcinogen; however, the previous epidemiologic data on EPTC exposure and cancer risk were limited. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine cancer incidence and EPTC use in 48,378 male pesticide applicators enrolled in the AHS. Methods: We estimated the rate ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all cancers and selected cancer sites using Poisson regression. We assessed EPTC exposure using two quantitative metrics: lifetime exposure days and intensity-weighted lifetime exposure days, a measure that accounts for application factors that modify personal exposure likelihood. Results: Among the 9,878 applicators exposed to EPTC, 470 incident cancer cases were diagnosed during the follow-up period ending December 2004 compared with the 1,824 cases among individuals reporting no use. Although EPTC was associated with colon cancer in the highest tertile of both lifetime exposure days and intensity-weighted lifetime days (RR = 2.09; 95% CI, 1.26-3.47 and RR = 2.05; 95% CI, 1.34-3.14, respectively) +nd the trend test was < 0.01 for both, the pattern of RR was not mnotonic with increasing use. There was a suggestion of an association with leukemia. No other associations were observed. Conclusion: In this analysis, EPTC use appeared to be associated with colon cancer and leukemia. However, given the relatively small number of cases in the highest exposure tertile, results should be interpreted with caution, and further investigations are needed.
AB - Background: The Agricultural Health Study (AHS) is a prospective cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators from Iowa and North Carolina enrolled between 1993 and 1997. EPTC (S-ethyl-N,N-dipropylthiocarbamate) is a thiocarbamate herbicide used in every region of the United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that EPTC is most likely not a human carcinogen; however, the previous epidemiologic data on EPTC exposure and cancer risk were limited. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine cancer incidence and EPTC use in 48,378 male pesticide applicators enrolled in the AHS. Methods: We estimated the rate ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all cancers and selected cancer sites using Poisson regression. We assessed EPTC exposure using two quantitative metrics: lifetime exposure days and intensity-weighted lifetime exposure days, a measure that accounts for application factors that modify personal exposure likelihood. Results: Among the 9,878 applicators exposed to EPTC, 470 incident cancer cases were diagnosed during the follow-up period ending December 2004 compared with the 1,824 cases among individuals reporting no use. Although EPTC was associated with colon cancer in the highest tertile of both lifetime exposure days and intensity-weighted lifetime days (RR = 2.09; 95% CI, 1.26-3.47 and RR = 2.05; 95% CI, 1.34-3.14, respectively) +nd the trend test was < 0.01 for both, the pattern of RR was not mnotonic with increasing use. There was a suggestion of an association with leukemia. No other associations were observed. Conclusion: In this analysis, EPTC use appeared to be associated with colon cancer and leukemia. However, given the relatively small number of cases in the highest exposure tertile, results should be interpreted with caution, and further investigations are needed.
KW - Agriculture
KW - Cancer
KW - EPTC
KW - Herbicide
KW - Neoplasms
KW - Occupational exposure
KW - Pesticides
KW - Thiocarbamates
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=58849153656&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1289/ehp.11371
DO - 10.1289/ehp.11371
M3 - Article
C2 - 19057708
AN - SCOPUS:58849153656
VL - 116
SP - 1541
EP - 1546
JO - Environmental Health Perspectives
JF - Environmental Health Perspectives
SN - 0091-6765
IS - 11
ER -