A new study has come out.
A recent analysis suggests that exposure to any of 22 pesticides may increase the risk of prostate cancer. The study, led by Dr. Simon John Christoph Soerensen from Stanford University, focused on this link over a prolonged period, recognizing that prostate cancer typically progresses slowly.
Soerensen’s team examined county-level pesticide usage data on 295 pesticides across the United States, comparing it to local prostate cancer rates. Given the typical 10- to 18-year latency period for carcinogen exposure to result in cancer, the researchers analyzed pesticide data from 1997 to 2001 and then compared it to prostate cancer rates from 2016 to 2020.
They identified 22 pesticides associated with higher prostate cancer risk, though the study did not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship. Among these, three pesticides, including the commonly used 2,4-D, had previously been linked to prostate cancer. The study’s findings were published on Nov. 4 in Cancer.
Of the 19 newly identified pesticides, ten were herbicides, with the remainder including fungicides, insecticides, and a soil fumigant. Notably, high exposure to four specific pesticides—trifluralin, cloransulam-methyl, diflufenzopyr, and thiamethoxam (an insecticide)—was associated with both an increased risk of developing prostate cancer and a higher likelihood of death from the disease. Only trifluralin is currently categorized by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a “possible human carcinogen”; the EPA considers the other three to have either insufficient evidence of carcinogenicity or to be “not likely carcinogenic.”
Dr. Soerensen, a graduate student in epidemiology at Stanford, emphasized the study’s significance, stating, “This research highlights the importance of investigating environmental exposures like pesticides to help explain geographic differences in prostate cancer rates and mortality across the U.S.” He added that these findings could aid in identifying risk factors for prostate cancer and potentially reduce the disease’s impact on men’s health.
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