Chlorinated pesticides may raise diabetes risk
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Using certain chlorinated pesticides puts a person at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and the greater the exposure, the greater the risk, researchers from the National Institutes of Health report.
The researchers studied more than 31,000 licensed pesticide applicators participating in the Agricultural Health Study. Licensed pesticide applicators use more potent formulations of the chemicals than are found in products sold for use in the home or garden, the researchers note.
Five years after enrolling in the study, 1,176 had developed type 2 diabetes. Among the 50 different pesticides the researchers looked at, half were chlorinated, and 7 of these were tied to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. They are: aldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, dichlorvos, trichlorfon, alachlor, and cyanazine.
Risk was higher among study participants who had ever been exposed to any of these chemicals, and increased as cumulative days of lifetime exposure increased, the team reports in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
The strongest link between exposure to the seven chemicals and type 2 diabetes was seen among obese people, possibly, the researchers say, because people with more body fat may store more of the chemicals in their bodies.
“All of the seven are chlorinated compounds,” study investigator Dr. Freya Kamel of the National Institute of Environmental Health in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina noted in an interview. “We don’t know yet what the implication of that is, but it can’t be a coincidence. I think it’s an important clue for future research.”
The three organochlorine pesticides, aldrin, chlordane, and heptachlor, are no longer sold in the United States, she added, but because they accumulate in animal tissues they remain at detectable levels in individuals’ bodies, as well as in some food products.
People should follow instructions when using any product containing pesticides, Kamel said. But the best way to avoid developing type 2 diabetes, she added, is to follow existing public health recommendations to maintain a healthy weight, exercise, and eat a balanced diet.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, published online May 14, 2008.
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