Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Jan 1;177(1):11-8.
doi: 10.1164/rccm.200706-821OC. Epub 2007 Oct 11.

Pesticides and atopic and nonatopic asthma among farm women in the Agricultural Health Study

Jane A Hoppin  1 , David M Umbach, Stephanie J London, Paul K Henneberger, Greg J Kullman, Michael C R Alavanja, Dale P Sandler
Affiliations

Pesticides and atopic and nonatopic asthma among farm women in the Agricultural Health Study

Jane A Hoppin et al. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. .

Abstract

Rationale: Risk factors for asthma among farm women are understudied.

Objectives: We evaluated pesticide and other occupational exposures as risk factors for adult-onset asthma.

Methods: Studying 25,814 farm women in the Agricultural Health Study, we used self-reported history of doctor-diagnosed asthma with or without eczema and/or hay fever to create two case groups: patients with atopic asthma and those with nonatopic asthma. We assessed disease-exposure associations with polytomous logistic regression.

Measurements and main results: At enrollment (1993-1997), 702 women (2.7%) reported a doctor's diagnosis of asthma after age 19 years (282 atopic, 420 nonatopic). Growing up on a farm (61% of all farm women) was protective for atopic asthma (odds ratio [OR], 0.55; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.43-0.70) and, to a lesser extent, for nonatopic asthma (OR, 0.83; 95%CI, 0.68-1.02; P value for difference = 0.008). Pesticide use was almost exclusively associated with atopic asthma. Any use of pesticides on the farm was associated only with atopic asthma (OR, 1.46; 95% CI, 1.14-1.87). This association with pesticides was strongest among women who had grown up on a farm. Women who grew up on farms and did not apply pesticides had the lowest overall risk of atopic asthma (OR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.27-0.62) compared with women who neither grew up on farms nor applied pesticides. A total of 7 of 16 insecticides, 2 of 11 herbicides, and 1 of 4 fungicides were significantly associated with atopic asthma; only permethrin use on crops was associated with nonatopic asthma.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that pesticides may contribute to atopic asthma, but not nonatopic asthma, among farm women.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

<b>Figure 1.</b>
Figure 1.
Odds ratios for cross-classifications of “grew up on a farm” with “personally applying pesticides” or “current animal exposure” and atopic asthma among farm women in the Agricultural Health Study, 1993–1997. Error bars span the 95% confidence interval.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Schenker MB, Christiani D, Cormier Y, Dimich-Ward H, Doekes G, Dosman J, Douwes J, Dowling K, Enarson D, Green F, et al. Respiratory health hazards in agriculture. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1998;158(Suppl):S1–S76. - PubMed
    1. Senthilselvan A, McDuffie HH, Dosman JA. Association of asthma with use of pesticides: results of a cross-sectional survey of farmers. Am Rev Respir Dis 1992;146:884–887. - PubMed
    1. Beard J, Sladden T, Morgan G, Berry G, Brooks L, McMichael A. Health impacts of pesticide exposure in a cohort of outdoor workers. Environ Health Perspect 2003;111:724–730. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hoppin JA, Umbach DM, London SJ, Alavanja MCR, Sandler DP. Chemical predictors of wheeze among farmer pesticide applicators in the agricultural health study. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2002;165:683–689. - PubMed
    1. Hoppin JA, Umbach DM, London SJ, Lynch CF, Alavanja MC, Sandler DP. Pesticides associated with wheeze among commercial pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Am J Epidemiol 2006;163:1129–1137. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms