More research is needed to understand the potential environmental risk factors for this disease.
From food dyes in ultra-processed foods to microplastics, we’re constantly warned about chemicals in our environment that adversely affect health. While some are avoidable, some chemicals, such as pesticides, are essential for keeping food on supermarket shelves. However, a growing body of research suggests these crop-saving substances aren’t just killing pests.
A new study has identified 22 commonly used pesticides that are statistically associated with increased prostate cancer incidence across the United States. Still, researchers caution the observational design cannot establish direct causation.
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New research published Monday in Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS), has further established a connection by identifying 22 pesticides consistently associated with increased prostate cancer rates.
Four of these pesticides were “potentially clinically significant” because they were linked to death from prostate cancer.
Researchers analyzed county-level data on 295 pesticides and their link to prostate cancer rates across the United States. They accounted for a 10-to-18-year delay between pesticide exposure and prostate cancer onset, owing to the slow-growing nature of this cancer.
Among the 22 pesticides associated with increased prostate cancer incidence, three had previously been linked to prostate cancer, including 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), widely used in the United States to control weeds such as dandelions, clover, and thistles.
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People and their pets may be exposed to 2,4-D when they play or walk on treated grass. This pesticide is marketed under several brands, including Weed-B-Gone, Acme, and Aquakleen.
The remaining 19 pesticides identified in the study had not been previously associated with prostate cancer, encompassing a variety of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and a soil fumigant.
Among these, four pesticides were explicitly linked to both increased incidence and mortality of prostate cancer. These included the herbicides trifluralin, cloransulam-methyl, and diflufenzopyr, and one insecticide, thiamethoxam.
The researchers acknowledged additional limitations, including their inability to definitively link higher pesticide exposure among those diagnosed with prostate cancer compared to those who did not develop the disease.
“While these findings alone don’t warrant immediate changes to public policy,” Soerensen pointed out, they do provide insights that could guide future research on environmental exposures and cancer risk.
“This information is crucial to better understanding how pesticides might influence prostate cancer and to identifying potential preventative strategies,” he concluded.
