September 23, 2021 | A study by Claremont Graduate University finds expo- sure to agricultural pesticides increases brain cancer risk up to 20 percent. This study, published in Cancers, expands on a 1998 study evaluating brain cancer risk among the farm population using epidemiologic studies. The study researchers note, “This comprehensive review and meta-analysis encompassing 42 years of the epidemiologic literature and updating two previous meta-analyses by 20 years supports an association between farming and brain cancer incidence and mortality.[…]Our analyses suggest that the elevated risk has been consistent over time, and the addition of newer studies (i.e., those published since 2000) does not change this conclusion.” Researchers conducted a literature review using PubMed and Agricola databases to assess studies evaluating the relationship between farming and brain cancer. The researchers reviewed meta-analysis studies to harmonize findings published between January 1997 and August 2019. In total, researchers evaluated 52 different studies. [Gatto, Nicole et al. Farming, Pesticides, and Brain Cancer: A 20-Year Updated Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis. Cancers. 13(17): 4477, 2021.]
