Citation

Beard JD, Umbach DM, Hoppin JA, Richards M, Alavanja MC, Blair A, Sandler DP, Kamel F. Environ. Health Perspect. 2011; 119(11): 1610-1615.

Affiliation

University of North Carolina.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences)

DOI

10.1289/ehp.1103413

PMID

21749962

PMCID

PMC3226500

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Some studies suggest an association between pesticide exposure and suicide. OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate the association between pesticide use and suicide using data from the Agricultural Health Study (AHS), a prospective cohort study of licensed pesticide applicators and their spouses in Iowa and North Carolina. METHODS: Via linkage to state mortality files and the National Death Index, we identified 110 suicides occurring between enrollment in the AHS (1993-1997) and May 31, 2009, among 81,998 cohort members contributing 1,092,943 person-years of follow-up. The average length of follow-up was 13.3 years. Subjects provided data on pesticide use and potential confounders via self-administered questionnaires at enrollment. We evaluated several measures of pesticide use: use of any pesticide; ever use of 50 specific pesticides; cumulative lifetime days of use and intensity-adjusted cumulative lifetime days of use of 22 specific pesticides; and ever use of 10 functional and chemical classes of pesticides. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to estimate adjusted hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: After adjusting for age at enrollment, sex, number of children in family, frequency of alcohol consumption during the past 12 months, and smoking status, we found no association between prior pesticide use and suicide in applicators and their spouses. This result was consistent across several measures of pesticide use. Results were the same for applicators and spouses together or for applicators alone. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings do not support an association between moderate pesticide use and suicide.

Language: en