Carbaryl exposure and incident cancer in the Agricultural Health Study

Abstract

Carbaryl is a carbamate insecticide with a broad spectrum of uses in agricultural, commercial and household settings. It has previously been linked with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) but studies of cancer risk in humans are limited. We examined occupational carbaryl use and risk of all cancers in the Agricultural Health Study, a prospective study of a cohort of pesticide applicators in North Carolina and Iowa. This analysis included 21,416 subjects (1,291 cases) enrolled from 1993-1997 and followed for cancer incidence through 2003. Pesticide exposure and other data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Poisson regression was used to calculate rate ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) while controlling for potential confounders. Carbaryl was not associated with cancer risk overall. Relative to subjects who never used carbaryl, melanoma risk was elevated with >175 lifetime exposure-days (RR 5 4.11; 95%CI, 1.33-12.75; p-trend 5 0.07), >10 years of use (RR 5 3.19; 95%CI, 1.28-7.92; p-trend 5 0.04), or 10 days of use per year (RR 5 5.50; 95%CI, 2.19-13.84; p-trend < 0.001). Risk remained after adjusting for sunlight exposure. Although not significant, there appeared to be a trend of decreasing prostate cancer risk with increasing level of exposure. A small increase in NHL risk was observed using some, but not all, exposure measures. No associations were observed with other examined cancer sites. Because the observed results were not hypothesized a priori and because of limited study of their biological plausibility, they should be interpreted with caution. ' 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A review of pesticide exposure and cancer incidence in the agricultural health study cohort

“…examined were associated with a significant increase in overall cancer incidence (alachlor, atrazine, captan, carbaryl, carbofuran, chlorothalonil, cyanazine, dicamba, dichlorvos, fonofos, glyphosate, heptachlor, imazethapyr, malathion, metolachlor, pendimethalin, permethrin, phorate, and tri-fluralin) (Bonner et al , 2007De Roos et al 2005a;Greenburg et al 2008;Hou et al 2006;Kang et al 2008;Koutros et al 2008Koutros et al , 2009Lee et al 2004b;Lynch et al 2006;Mahajan et al 2006aMahajan et al , 2006bMahajan et al , 2007Mozzachio et al 2008;Rusiecki et al 2004Rusiecki et al , 2006Rusiecki et al , 2009Samanic et al 2006). Lung cancer.…”

“…However, the most recent study of pendimethalin exposure did not observe a significant exposure-response trend for lung cancer . Fourteen other pesticides were examined but were not associated with increased lung cancer incidence in pesticide applicators (atrazine, captan, carbaryl, chlorothalonil, cyanazine, dichlorvos, EPTC, fonofos, glyphosate, imazethapyr, malathion, permethrin, phorate, and trifluralin) (Alavanja et al 2004;Bonner et al 2007;De Roos et al 2005a;Kang et al 2008;Greenburg et al 2008;Mahajan et al 2006aMahajan et al , 2006bMahajan et al , 2007Mozzachio et al 2008;Lynch et al 2006;Rusiecki et al 2004Rusiecki et al , 2009Samanic et al 2006;van Bemmel et al 2008).…”

“…Rectal cancer risk was also significantly increased when chlorpyrifos and pendimethalin exposures were analyzed according to IWLDs Lee et al 2004a), and we observed significant exposure-response trends for chlordane (Purdue et al 2006), chlorpyrifos (Lee et al 2004a;, and pendimethalin . Seventeen other pesticides were examined but were not associated with colon or rectal cancer incidence (2,4-D, alachlor, aldrin, atrazine, captan, carbaryl, carbofuran, chlorothalonil, cyanazine, diazinon, dichlorvos, fonofos, glyphosate, malathion, metolachlor, permethrin, and phorate) (Beane Freeman et al 2005;Bonner et al 2005Bonner et al , 2007De Roos et al 2005a;Greenburg et al 2008;Koutros et al 2008;Lee et al 2004bLee et al , 2007bLynch et al 2006;Mahajan et al 2006aMahajan et al , 2007Mozzachio et al 2008;Purdue et al 2006;Rusiecki et al 2004Rusiecki et al , 2006Rusiecki et al , 2009.…”

“…Significant exposure-response trends were observed for alachlor (Lee et al 2004b) and diazinon (Beane Freeman et al 2005). Fifteen other pesticides were examined but were not associated with lymphohemato-poietic cancers (captan, carbaryl, carbofuran, cyanazine, dicamba, dichlorvos, EPTC, fonofos, glyphosate, imazethapyr, malathion, metolachlor, pendimethalin, phorate, and trifluralin) (Bonner et al , 2007De Roos et al 2005a;Greenburg et al 2008;Hou et al 2006;Kang et al 2008;Koutros et al 2008Koutros et al , 2009Lee et al 2004b;Lynch et al 2006;Mahajan et al 2006aMahajan et al , 2006bMahajan et al , 2007Rusiecki et al 2006;Samanic et al 2006).…”

Effect of carbaryl on some biochemical changes in PC12 cells: the protective effect of soy isoflavone genistein, and daidzein, and their mixed solution

“…It is also used to control many kinds of pests in crops such as beans, bananas, potatoes, and domestic vegetables. Carbaryl is mildly toxic for humans and domestic animals (class II) (Mahajan et al, 2007) and is capable of altering the antioxidant defense system in diverse organisms (Ferrari, Venturino, & D'Angelo, 2007;Matos, Fontaı´nhas-Fernandes, Peixoto, Carrola, & Rocha, 2007). In addition to its neurotoxicity, it was found to cause heart malformation (Lin, Hui, & Cheng, 2007) and increase the mortality rate during development of zebra fish (Danio rerio) (Todd & Van Leeuwen, 2002).…”