Exposure to Common Pesticide Linked to Greater Mortality Risk

Greater levels of exposure to pyrethroid insecticides, commonly found in household and garden insecticides, pet sprays, lice treatments, and mosquito repellants, are associated with an increased risk of mortality, according to the results of a recent study.

Although exposure to pyrethroid insecticides is fairly common in the US and worldwide, the effects of this exposure on long-term health outcomes are uncertain.

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To examine this association, researchers conducted a cohort study involving 2116 adults aged 20 years and older from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2002). All participants had provided urine samples and pyrethroid metabolite measurements were obtained.

During a median of 14.4 years of observation, 246 of the participants died, with 41 cardiovascular-related deaths and 52 cancer-related deaths. Those participants with higher urinary levels of 3-phenoxybenzoic acid had a higher mortality risk than those with lower levels, with death occurring in 8.5%, 10.2%, and 11.9% of participants across increasing tertiles of urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid levels.  

Hazard ratios for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular disease mortality, and cancer-related mortality among those individuals in the highest tertile of exposure were 1.56 (95% CI, 1.08-2.26), 3.00 (95% CI, 1.02-8.80), and 0.91 (95% CI, 0.31-2.72), respectively, compared with those in the lowest tertile.

“The findings from this prospective cohort indicated that environmental exposure to pyrethroid insecticides was significantly associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality in the US general adult population. The observed association is likely associated with pyrethroid-induced adverse effects on the cardiovascular system. Further studies are needed to replicate the findings and determine the underlying mechanisms,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Bao W, Liu B, Simonsen DW, et al. Association between exposure to pyrethroid insecticides and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the general us adult population [published online December 30, 2019]. JAMA Intern Med. Accessed January 2, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2019.6019.