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Cancer incidence among pesticide applicators exposed to captan in the Agricultural Health Study

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Abstract

Objective

Captan is a widely used antifungal pesticide whose potential to cause cancer in humans is uncertain.

Methods

We evaluated the incidence of cancer among pesticide applicators exposed to captan in the Agricultural Health Study. Detailed information on pesticide exposure and lifestyle factors was obtained from self-administered enrollment questionnaires completed between 1993 and 1997.

Results

Of the 48,986 applicators enrolled 4,383 (9%) had applied captan. Median follow-up time was 9.14 years. Poisson regression analysis was used to estimate relative risks (RR) for cancer subtypes by tertiles of captan exposure. We investigated risk for all cancers combined and sites of cancer for which at least 15 cases occurred among captan-exposed applicators. These sites included cancers of the prostate, lung, and colon, blood-related cancers, and colorectal cancers. During follow-up 2,912 incident primary cases of cancer were identified. No association between the highest tertile of captan exposure (>67.375 intensity-weighted days) and development of all cancers (RR = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.71–1.13) or cancer of any specific site was observed.

Conclusion

Although our study is limited by low numbers of observed cancer cases and follow-up time of 9.14 years, it does not provide evidence of an increased risk for the development of cancer at the investigated sites.

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Acknowlegments

This work was supported by the intramural research program of the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and National Cancer Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine-EDP, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Rd., Bethesda, MD, 20814, USA

    David L. Greenburg, Jennifer Rusiecki & Rahulkumar Patel

  2. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Department of Health and Human Services, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA

    Jennifer Rusiecki, Stella Koutros, Mustafa Dosemeci & Michael C. R. Alavanja

  3. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH, USA

    Cynthia J. Hines

  4. Epidemiology Branch, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

    Jane A. Hoppin

Authors
  1. David L. Greenburg
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  2. Jennifer Rusiecki
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  4. Mustafa Dosemeci
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  8. Michael C. R. Alavanja
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jennifer Rusiecki.

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The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or the Department of Defense.

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Greenburg, D.L., Rusiecki, J., Koutros, S. et al. Cancer incidence among pesticide applicators exposed to captan in the Agricultural Health Study. Cancer Causes Control 19, 1401–1407 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9187-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9187-9

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