Rheumatoid Arthritis in Agricultural Health Study Spouses: Associations with Pesticides and Other Farm Exposures.

Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0330411 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1552-9924 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00916765 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Environ Health Perspect Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Research Triangle Park, N. C. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Environmental Exposure* ; Farmers* ; Spouses*; Arthritis, Rheumatoid/*epidemiology ; Environmental Pollutants/*toxicity ; Pesticides/*toxicity; Cohort Studies ; Female ; Fertilizers/toxicity ; Humans ; Solvents/toxicity

Background: Farming has been associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), but the role of pesticides is not known.
Objectives: We examined associations between RA and pesticides or other agricultural exposures among female spouses of licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study.
Methods: Women were enrolled between 1993 and 1997 and followed through 2010. Cases (n = 275 total, 132 incident), confirmed by a physician or by self-reported use of disease modifying antirheumatic drugs, were compared with noncases (n = 24,018). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated using logistic regression models adjusted for age, state, and smoking pack-years.
Results: Overall, women with RA were somewhat more likely to have reported lifetime use of any specific pesticide versus no pesticides (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0, 1.6). Of the 15 pesticides examined, maneb/mancozeb (OR = 3.3; 95% CI: 1.5, 7.1) and glyphosate (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.0, 2.1) were associated with incident RA compared with no pesticide use. An elevated, but non-statistically significant association with incident RA was seen for DDT (OR = 1.9; 95% CI: 0.97, 3.6). Incident RA was also associated with the application of chemical fertilizers (OR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.7) and cleaning with solvents (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.1, 2.4), but inversely associated with lifetime livestock exposure as a child and adult (OR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.24, 0.97) compared with no livestock exposure.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that specific agricultural pesticides, solvents, and chemical fertilizers may increase the risk of RA in women, while exposures involving animal contact may be protective. Citation: Parks CG, Hoppin JA, De Roos AJ, Costenbader KH, Alavanja MC, Sandler DP. 2016. Rheumatoid arthritis in Agricultural Health Study spouses: associations with pesticides and other farm exposures. Environ Health Perspect 124:1728-1734; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP129.
Competing Interests: The authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Comment in: Environ Health Perspect. 2016 Nov 1;124(11):A197. (PMID: 27801650)
Comment in: Environ Health Perspect. 2016 Nov 1;124(11):A196. (PMID: 27801652)

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Z01 CP010119 United States ImNIH Intramural NIH HHS; Z01 ES049030 United States ImNIH Intramural NIH HHS

0 (Environmental Pollutants)
0 (Fertilizers)
0 (Pesticides)
0 (Solvents)

Date Created: 20160611 Date Completed: 20170531 Latest Revision: 20210109

20221213

PMC5089872

10.1289/EHP129

27285288