Autoimmune Disorders May Result from Household Insecticide Use
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Posted on Oct 26, 2009, 6 a.m.
Large-scale study links common household insecticides to increased risk of disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus in women.
Previous research has linked agricultural pesticides to higher risk of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, two primary types of autoimmune disorders. Christine Parks, from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (North Carolina, USA), and colleagues studied data collected on 76,861 women (ages 50 to 79 years) enrolled in the Women’s Health Initiative Observational Study, finding that personal insecticide use (exposure either by mixing or applying the chemicals) was associated with increased risk of autoimmune rheumatic diseases, with stronger associations among those with a greater frequency (exposure more than 6 times a year) and duration of use (20 years or more). Increasing cumulative insecticide use also showed a significant trend of increased autoimmune disease risk.
Christine G. Parks, National Institute of Environmental Health Science, Research Triangle Park, N.C. “Farm History, Insecticide Use and Risk of Autoimmune Rheumatic Disease in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study” (Abstract #614), presented at the 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology, October 18, 2009.
