On-the-Job Exposure to Pesticide may Increase Cancer Risk

By Laura Segnit

Published on December 06, 2005

The study began in 1993 to determine potential health risks faced by farmers in North Carolina and Iowa. It compared lung cancer rates in two groups of men: those with occupational exposure to diazinon and those with no occupational exposure to the chemical.

By December 2002, a higher percentage of men in the occupational exposure group had developed lung cancer. The results did not change when researchers accounted for cigarette smoking.

Diazinon is a chemical derived from nerve gas agents developed during World War II. In 2004, about four millions pounds of the pesticide were used in agriculture.

After phasing out the use of diazinon in home, garden, and lawn products, the EPA has recently proposed new restrictions on agricultural use of the pesticide.

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