Study: pesticide exposure for pregnant women causes childhood cancer

A report published in CHEM Trust talks about several research studies that link pesticide exposure in women either prior to conception or during pregnancy with an increased the risk of childhood cancer once the baby is born. Pesticide exposure in women already pregnant posed the highest risk.

Reports stated that pesticide exposure has been linked to cases of non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), leukemia, prostate cancer and other hormone related cancers. The CHEM Trust report talks about certain cancers having increased dramatically in frequency for many years. Environmental factors are being blamed for the instances of cancerous cells growing. The main suspect? Pesticides.

Some interesting facts that these studies shared were that in Britain, over theh last 30 years, Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma has more than doubled, testicular cancer has doubled, prostate cancer has tripled, and breast cancer in women has increased by two thirds, and in men quadrupled.

Gwynne Lyons, Director of CHEM Trust and co-author of the report stated, “Pesticide exposures may interact with other chemical exposures and genetic factors, to cause cancer. Research suggests that pregnant women, in particular, should avoid direct exposure to pesticides, if possible. It is high time that the UK was more supportive of EU proposals to take a tougher approach to reducing exposure to potentially harmful chemicals. If the UK is to shed its image of being the laggard in the EU,4 then the UK Government must robustly implement the new EU pesticides legislation in order to try and reduce the burden of cancer in children, farmers and others exposed to pesticides.”

Andrew Watterson, Professor of Health at Stirling University and the other coauthor of the report stated, "Occupational and environmental cancers have been a neglected public health issue in the UK for decades. The report highlights the substantial nature of the threat from pesticide exposure. In the UK, oversight of pesticides has continued to err on the side of products rather than people and of course relies on data generated initially by the pesticide manufacturers. The regulatory response has usually been ‘if in doubt, do continue using pesticides’ when the scientific literature is littered with examples of products that have been cleared in the past emerging as known or suspect human carcinogens. There is a long-overdue and urgent need to mount a cancer prevention."