Pesticide use and thyroid disease among women in the Agricultural Health Study

Abstract

Thyroid disease is common, and evidence of an association between organochlorine exposure and thyroid disease is increasing. The authors examined the cross-sectional association between ever use of organochlorines and risk of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism among female spouses (n = 16,529) in Iowa and North Carolina enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study in 1993-1997. They also assessed risk of thyroid disease in relation to ever use of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and fumigants. Prevalence of self-reported clinically diagnosed thyroid disease was 12.5%, and prevalence of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism was 6.9% and 2.1%, respectively. There was an increased odds of hypothyroidism with ever use of organochlorine insecticides (adjusted odds ratio (OR(adj)) = 1.2 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0, 1.6) and fungicides (OR(adj) = 1.4 (95% CI: 1.1, 1.8) but no association with ever use of herbicides, fumigants, organophosphates, pyrethroids, or carbamates. Specifically, ever use of the organochlorine chlordane (OR(adj) = 1.3 (95% CI: 0.99, 1.7), the fungicides benomyl (OR(adj) = 3.1 (95% CI: 1.9, 5.1) and maneb/mancozeb (OR(adj) = 2.2 (95% CI: 1.5, 3.3), and the herbicide paraquat (OR(adj) = 1.8 (95% CI: 1.1, 2.8) was significantly associated with hypothyroidism. Maneb/mancozeb was the only pesticide associated with both hyperthyroidism (OR(adj) = 2.3 (95% CI: 1.2, 4.4) and hypothyroidism. These data support a role of organochlorines, in addition to fungicides, in the etiology of thyroid disease among female spouses enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study.

Figure 1.

Selection of the study population, Agricultural Health Study, 1993–1997. Female spouses of licensed pesticide applicators in Iowa and North Carolina who were part of the Agricultural Health Study and who also had thyroid disease and pesticide use data were included. For further analysis, the population was then divided into 4 groups: no thyroid disease, hyperthyroid, hypothyroid, and other.