What you should know about Pesticides and Diabetes/Obesity

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Pesticides and diabetes/obesity

There is human and animal evidence that exposure to various pesticides may contribute to the development of type 2 and perhaps even gestational diabetes, especially at higher levels of exposure (e.g., among farmworkers). People exposed at very high levels-- poisoned with pesticides-- sometimes develop high blood sugar as an immediate consequence. One rodenticide, Vacor, was banned due to its ability to cause permanent type 1 diabetes in humans. Do lower levels of exposure contribute to diabetes development? They might.

Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and body weight

Longitudinal studies in humans

The strongest evidence for the ability for environmental exposures to contribute to the development of diabetes comes from longitudinal studies. These are studies that take place over a period of time, where the exposure is measured before the disease develops.

A study of pesticide applicators in the U.S. found that diabetes incidence increased with the use (both cumulative lifetime days of use and ever use) of some organophosphate pesticides: dichlorvos, trichlorfon, alachlor, cyanazine, and the organochlorine pesticides aldrin, chlordane, and heptachlor. Those who had been diagnosed more than one year prior to the study were excluded, and the participants were followed over time, ensuring that exposures were reported prior to diagnosis. While these people were exposed occupationally, many of these pesticides are available to the general public. This study was based on data from the Agricultural Health Study, which includes over 33,000 participants from Iowa and North Carolina (Montgomery et al. 2008).

Another longitudinal study, also using data from the Agricultural Health Study, looked at exposure data from farmers' wives. It found that diabetes incidence was associated with exposure to five pesticides: three organophosphate pesticides: fonofos, phorate, and parathion; as well as the organochlorine pesticide dieldrin, and the herbicide 2,4,5-T.

MORE - http://www.diabetesandenvironment.org/home/contam/pesticides

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