Studies on Pesticide Induced Diseases
A Beyond Pesticides Resource
Our Smart on Pesticide Coalition partners Beyond Pesticides launched the Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, which facilitates access to epidemiologic and laboratory studies based on real-world exposure scenarios that link public health effects to pesticides. The scientific literature documents elevated rates of chronic diseases among people exposed to pesticides, with increasing numbers of studies associated with both specific illnesses and a range of illnesses. With some of these diseases at very high and, perhaps, epidemic proportions, there is an urgent need for public policy at all levels –local, state, and national—to end dependency on toxic pesticides, replacing them with carefully defined green strategies. The common diseases affecting the public’s health are all too well-known in the 21st century: asthma, autism and learning disabilities, birth defects and reproductive dysfunction, diabetes, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, and several types of cancer. Their connection to pesticide exposure continues to strengthen despite efforts to restrict individual chemical exposure or mitigate chemical risks, using risk assessment-based policy.
