Massachusetts Environmental Health Association-Training and Resources
Pesticides (resources)
RESOURCES:
A pesticide is any substance used to kill, repel, or control certain forms of plant or animal life that are considered to be pests. Pesticides include herbicides for destroying weeds and other unwanted vegetation, insecticides for controlling a wide variety of insects, fungicides used to prevent the growth of molds and mildew, disinfectants for preventing the spread of bacteria, and compounds used to control mice and rats. Because of the widespread use of agricultural chemicals in food production, people are exposed to low levels of pesticide residues through their diets. Scientists do not yet have a clear understanding of the health effects of these pesticide residues. Results from the Agricultural Health Study, an ongoing study of pesticide exposures in farm families, show that farmers who used agricultural insecticides experienced an increase in headaches, fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, hand tremors, and other neurological symptoms. Evidence suggests that children are particularly susceptible to adverse effects from exposure to pesticides, including neurodevelopmental effects. People may also be exposed to pesticides used in a variety of settings including homes, schools, hospitals, and workplaces. (source: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/pesticides/index.cfm).
Licensed pesticide applicators who used chlorinated pesticides on more than 100 days in their lifetime were at greater risk of diabetes, according to researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The associations between specific pesticides and incident diabetes ranged from a 20 percent to a 200 percent increase in risk, said the scientists with the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). (source: http://www.niehs.nih.gov/news/releases/2008/longterm.cfm)
NIH RADIO
Long-term Pesticide Exposure May Increase Risk of Diabetes
Speaker: Dale P. Sandler, Ph.D., Chief of the Epidemiology Branch, NIEHS
Listen to Dr. Sandler discuss these findings
View links about pesticides by clicking here (internal link to... /web-links/58-pesticides).
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