Brain function affected in workers exposed to pesticides
10 December 2010
Long-term pesticide exposure increases the risk of cognitive impairment (problems with thinking and memory), according to findings from French research involving farm workers published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine (2010 Nov 22, online).
The study of 614 vineyard workers showed those exposed to pesticides for 5 years or more were up to 5 times more likely to record poor performances on 9 neurobehavioural tests compared with workers not exposed.
Workers exposed to pesticides also had twice the risk of their score dropping at least 2 points on the mini-mental state examination (a test of memory and thinking ability) over the 3-6 year follow-up period compared with workers not exposed.
The finding remained after adjusting for educational level, age, sex, alcohol consumption, smoking, psychotropic drug use and symptoms of depression. "These results suggest possible evolution towards Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias in subjects chronically (long-term) exposed to pesticides", the authors concluded.
Last Reviewed: 10 December 2010
- 1. Baldi I, Gruber A, Rondeau V, et al. Neurobehavioral effects of long-term exposure to pesticides: results from the 4-year follow-up of the PHYTONER Study. Occup Environ Med 2010 Nov 22. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1136/oem.2009.054197. http://oem.bmj.com/content/early/2010/11/23/oem.2009.054197.abstract (accessed Dec 2010).
