Increased exposure to pesticides and colon cancer: Early evidence in Brazil

Abstract

Environmental factors may increase colon cancer (CC) risk. It has been suggested that pesticides could play a significant role in the etiology of this malignancy. As agriculture is one of the mainstays of the Brazilian economy, this country has become the largest pesticides consumer worldwide. The CC burden is also increasing in Brazil. Herein, we examined data from the Brazilian Federal Government to determine whether CC mortality and pesticide consumption may be associated. Database of the Ministry of Health provided CC mortality data in Brazil, while pesticide usage was accessed at the website of Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources. The CC mortality in the Brazilian states was calculated as standard mortality rates (SMR). All Bayesian analysis was performed using a Markov chain Monte Carlo method in WinBUGS software. We observed that CC mortality has exhibited a steady increase for more than a decade, which correlated with the amount of sold pesticides in the country. Both observations are concentrated in the Southern and the Southeast regions of Brazil. Although ecological studies like ours have methodological limitations, the current dataset suggests the possibility that pesticide exposure may be a risk factor for CC. It warrants further investigation.

<p>Spatial heterogeneity of <em>KRAS </em>mutations in colorectal cancers in northern France</p>

“…Our results are inconsistent with those of a study that suggests pesticide exposure as another explanatory factor 38. Agricultural areas with high pesticide use are clustered in the North and Southeastern regions of our study area.…”

“…Although this classification is for lung cancer, it is relevant to question the impact of such pollution on CRC. Specifically, some traffic-related pollutants, such as NO 2 and benzene, are suspected to be involved in the pathogenesis of CRC 37,38. High-level exposure to diesel emissions may increase the risk of rectal cancer in Canadian men,39 not colonic cancer.…”

Nephrotoxic Effects Caused by Occupational Exposure to Agrochemicals in a Region of Northeastern Brazil: A Cross‐Sectional Study

“…Furthermore, the excessive use of pesticides in Brazil can affect the environment and human health (Waichman et al 2002). Pesticides can cause direct damage to the health of rural workers through cancer (Martin et al 2018) and hormonal disorders (Bernieri et al 2019) as well as other ailments. Moreover, several reviews and epidemiological studies have shown the damage to renal function from exposure to pesticides (Lee et al 2015; Lebov et al 2016; Valcke et al 2017; Prudente et al 2018).…”

Perceptions about Healthy Eating and Emotional Factors Conditioning Eating Behaviour: A Study Involving Portugal, Brazil and Argentina

“…Additionally, organic food contains higher levels of nutrients and bioactive substances that improve consumers' health and wellness [10][11][12][13]. Organic diets have the benefit of exposing consumers to considerably lower levels of chemicals, which can cause several human diseases like cancer, autism, and infertility [14][15][16][17][18][19]. Data form pesticide residues' monitoring clearly show that foods from organic farming have lower levels of pesticide residues when compared with foods grown in conventional farming systems [20,21].…”