Pesticides can’t be linked to cancer yet

TORONTO—It’s one of those thorny issues that keeps cropping up among scientists, health-advocacy groups, and the public: do the myriad pesticides that farmers use to grow our food cause cancer?
The answer? Nobody is really sure.

At least that seems to be the consensus of world experts who gathered in Toronto yesterday for a two-day conference hosted by the Canadian Cancer Society.
Studies in lab animals exposed to various bug, weed, and rodent killers show a few do appear to cause some types of cancer, said Aaron Blair, an expert in occupational pesticide exposure at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.
But figuring out whether the chemicals—both synthetic and naturally-occurring—affect people in the same way is harder to pin down, he said. For one thing, studies on humans only can look for possible associations between exposure to a substance and a health outcome like cancer.
While some studies have found an apparent excess of certain cancers, such as lymphomas, in farmers and other populations that have high contact with pesticides, the evidence “is not exactly, completely solid in every respect,” Blair said in an interview.
“Now you look at occupational studies that have been carried out in various groups who apply or use or manufacture pesticides, and my take on the evidence is it’s, well, maybe or possibly.”
But scientists aren’t about to leave the question hanging, he stressed.
“The evidence is strong enough, interesting enough, from occupational groups with pesticide exposure to make us think there may be these very specific links, where we [need to] do the more precise and better studies.”
The question of pesticides’ possible role in causing malignancies is a sensitive and pressing issue for the Canadian Cancer Society, which organized the conference to tap into expert opinion and advice so it can better guide Canadians.
For years, the society has called for bans of pesticides for cosmetic use—primarily the chemicals aimed at ridding lawns and gardens of insects and weeds.
“So if it’s not OK on lawns and gardens, what do you say about everything else?” asked Heather Logan, the organization’s director of cancer control policy and information.
The hope is that expert opinions gathered from the conference will help the society frame its advice to Canadians when it comes to pesticide exposure, whether it’s the farmer spraying corn from a tractor, people living near agricultural land, or the vast majority of us who eat fruits and vegetables that likely carry chemical residues.
The issue of fruit and vegetable consumption is particularly tricky since the society and other health-advocacy groups strongly advise people to eat plenty of both daily to prevent certain cancers, among them colorectal cancer.