Subject: PANUPS: Farmworkers Health Study

From: Pesticide Action Network North America Reg Ctr <[email-masked]>
Date: 12 Mar 93 16:54 PST

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PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK NORTH AMERICA UPDATES SERVICE
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U.S. BEGINS LONG-TERM STUDY OF FARM FAMILY HEALTH

March 12, 1993

	Three national agencies are launching a project to 
monitor the health of farmers, farmworkers, and their 
families, in what will be the largest agriculture-related 
health study ever undertaken in the U.S. The 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Cancer 
Institute (NCI), and the National Institute of 
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will collaborate 
on this project, which will last ten years, or longer if 
funding is available. 
	NCI comments that farmers are chronically exposed 
to "potentially harmful compounds such as pesticides. . . 
chemical solvents, engine exhausts, animal viruses, 
sunlight, and other substances common to agriculture." 
The new project should provide important data on the 
health effects of these exposures over time.
	The project is a prospective epidemiological study 
(one in which an identified group, or cohort, is studied 
over a specified period of time) that will follow two 
cohorts of farm families: one in Iowa, and one in North 
Carolina. The project will include up to 100,000 people, 
including male and female farmers, farmers' spouses, 
agricultural pesticide applicators, and their children. 
	Prior studies have shown that U.S. farmers have 
higher-than-normal rates of several types of cancer, 
including lymphoma and sarcoma, multiple myeloma, 
certain leukemias, and cancers of the brain, prostate, 
skin, and lip. In some cases, specific agents have been 
linked with these cancers -- for example, 
epidemiological studies have linked exposure to phenoxy 
herbicides, and 2,4-D in particular, with significantly 
enhanced rates of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in farmers.
	Until now, few studies of farmer health in the U.S. 
have assessed or compared the health status of various 
ethnic groups. NIEHS, which is involved primarily in the 
assessment of non-cancer health outcomes of farming in 
this study, notes that the Iowa cohort is expected to be 
overwhelmingly white, but that the North Carolina cohort 
is expected to include a substantial number of people of 
Native American and African American descent, among 
both farmers and farmworkers.
	Past studies of farm health by NCI and other health 
monitoring agencies have generally been case-control 
studies, in which a selected group of "cases" of those 
manifesting a particular condition are compared with 
"controls," a selected group of those who do not have the 
condition under study. In launching a prospective study 
that will examine the cumulative health status of the 
farm cohorts over many years, investigators will be able 
to study many types of cancer and non-cancer health 
events in a consistent population. Another advantage of a 
prospective study such as this is that it will gather 
information on health events and exposures as they 
occur. This eliminates some of the problems associated 
with retrospective health surveys that rely heavily on 
recall of past events.
	In addition to ongoing medical care and assessment 
of medical records, some participants in the study will 
be selected for ongoing physiological and/or 
neurobehavioral monitoring. This will include blood, 
urine, or body tissue testing, as well as 
neuropsychological tests of memory, perception, and 
motor ability. Neurotoxicity is among the most 
significant concerns of the non-cancer portion of this 
study, as it has been estimated by EPA and the Office of 
Technology Assessment (OTA) that between 25% and 50% 
of pesticide active ingredients are known or suspected 
human neurotoxins. Reproductive toxicity will also be an 
important focus -- NIEHS reports that detailed analysis 
will be given to male and female reproductive system 
health, to fertility and pregnancy outcomes, and to 
developmental assessment of the children of farmers and 
applicators.

Sources:  RThree Agencies to Cooperate in Agricultural 
Health Study,S National Cancer Institute, January 25, 
1993; EPA Press Advisory, January 25, 1993; 
RNCI/EPA/NIEHS Agricultural Heath Study,S NIEHS, 
undated.

Contacts: Office of Cancer Communication, National 
Cancer Institute (NCI), Building 31, Room 10A24, 3000 
Rockville Pike, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 
MD 20892 USA; phone (301) 496-4000; National Institute 
of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), Building 31, 
Room B1-CO2 (same street address as NCI); phone (301) 
496-0563

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The Pesticide Action Network North America Updates Service 
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156283472 PANNA. E-mail address on EcoNet: [email-masked]
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