Table 4.
Husbands’ pesticide use and self-reported, incident depression in wives from Iowa and North Carolina who never used pesticides, but who were enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study.
| Cases (n = 444) | Total (n = 6,830) | Inverse Probability Weightedb | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variablea | No. | % | No. | % | RR | 95% CI |
| Cumulative lifetime days personally mixed or applied pesticidesc | ||||||
| 0 (Median = 0.00) | 8 | 2 | 82 | 1 | 1.00 | Referent |
| 1-64 (38.75) | 120 | 27 | 1,829 | 27 | 0.67 | 0.33, 1.35 |
| 65-225 (178.50) | 142 | 32 | 2,188 | 32 | 0.67 | 0.34, 1.34 |
| 226-457 (369.75) | 95 | 21 | 1,392 | 20 | 0.71 | 0.35, 1.43 |
| > 457 (767.25) | 78 | 18 | 1,297 | 19 | 0.62 | 0.31, 1.26 |
| Missing | 1 | 42 | ||||
| Trend (IQR = 393.50)d | 0.95 | 0.83, 1.09 | ||||
| Functional pesticide classese: ever personally mixed or applied | ||||||
| Fumigants | ||||||
| No | 305 | 74 | 4,833 | 77 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 105 | 26 | 1,477 | 23 | 1.11 | 0.85, 1.44 |
| Missing | 34 | 520 | ||||
| Fungicides | ||||||
| No | 266 | 65 | 4,091 | 64 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 144 | 35 | 2,260 | 36 | 0.94 | 0.75, 1.19 |
| Missing | 34 | 479 | ||||
| Herbicides | ||||||
| No | 9 | 2 | 164 | 2 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 430 | 98 | 6,536 | 98 | 1.25 | 0.64, 2.47 |
| Missing | 5 | 130 | ||||
| Insecticides | ||||||
| No | 17 | 4 | 342 | 5 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 405 | 96 | 6,199 | 95 | 1.42 | 0.88, 2.30 |
| Missing | 22 | 289 | ||||
| Chemical pesticide classesf: ever personally mixed or applied | ||||||
| Carbamates | ||||||
| No | 139 | 34 | 2,268 | 35 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 273 | 66 | 4,139 | 65 | 1.27 | 1.01, 1.60 |
| Missing | 32 | 423 | ||||
| Chloroacetanilide herbicides | ||||||
| No | 110 | 27 | 1,914 | 30 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 296 | 73 | 4,430 | 70 | 1.16 | 0.93, 1.44 |
| Missing | 38 | 486 | ||||
| Organochlorine insecticides | ||||||
| No | 201 | 50 | 3,013 | 48 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 198 | 50 | 3,254 | 52 | 1.17 | 0.94, 1.44 |
| Missing | 45 | 563 | ||||
| Organophosphate insecticides | ||||||
| No | 37 | 9 | 656 | 10 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 385 | 91 | 5,897 | 90 | 1.21 | 0.86, 1.71 |
| Missing | 22 | 277 | ||||
| Phenoxy herbicides | ||||||
| No | 91 | 22 | 1,244 | 19 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 324 | 78 | 5,262 | 81 | 0.94 | 0.74, 1.19 |
| Missing | 29 | 324 | ||||
| Pyrethroid insecticides | ||||||
| No | 302 | 74 | 4,843 | 77 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 107 | 26 | 1,471 | 23 | 1.08 | 0.87, 1.36 |
| Missing | 35 | 516 | ||||
| Triazine herbicides | ||||||
| No | 80 | 19 | 1,239 | 19 | 1.00 | Referent |
| Yes | 347 | 81 | 5,325 | 81 | 1.00 | 0.78, 1.30 |
| Missing | 17 | 266 | ||||
Abbreviations: 2,4-D, (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetic acid; 2,4,5-T, (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)acetic acid; 2,4,5-TP, (RS)-2-(2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy)propionic acid; CI, confidence interval; DDT, 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(4-chlorophenyl)ethane; EPTC, S-ethyl dipropyl(thiocarbamate); IQR, interquartile range; RR, risk ratio.
Fewer than five cases’ husbands never personally mixed or applied pesticides.
Weights adjusted for age at enrollment (modeled with a restricted, quadratic spline with three equally spaced knots at ages 36, 43, and 52 years based on percentiles of the age distribution in all cases), ever diagnosed with diabetes (other than while pregnant), education level, state of residence, and not dropping out of the Agricultural Health Study cohort (conditional on the exposure of interest and on the same covariates just listed as well as pairwise interaction terms between each covariate and the exposure of interest). Robust variance estimates were used to calculate 95% CIs.
Category boundaries set at the quartiles of cumulative lifetime days of pesticide use among all husbands (of wives who never used pesticides) who used any pesticides.
Used within-category medians and scaled the RR to an IQR-unit (days) increase in cumulative lifetime days of pesticide use among all husbands (of wives who never used pesticides) who used any pesticides.
Fumigants included aluminum phosphide, methyl bromide, carbon tetrachloride/carbon disulfide (80/20 mix), and ethylene dibromide. Fungicides included benomyl, captan, chlorothalonil, maneb/mancozeb, metalaxyl, and ziram. Herbicides included 2,4-D; 2,4,5-T; 2,4,5-TP; alachlor; atrazine; butylate; chlorimuron-ethyl; cyanazine; dicamba; EPTC; glyphosate; imazethapyr; metolachlor; metribuzin; paraquat; pendimethalin; petroleum oil; and trifluralin. Insecticides included aldicarb, aldrin, carbaryl, carbofuran, chlordane, chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, DDT, dichlorvos, diazinon, dieldrin, fonofos, heptachlor, lindane, malathion, parathion, permethrin (for animals), permethrin (for crops), phorate, terbufos, toxaphene, and trichlorfon.
Carbamates included aldicarb, benomyl, carbaryl, and carbofuran. Chloroacetanilide herbicides included alachlor and metolachlor. Organochlorine insecticides included aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, heptachlor, lindane, and toxaphene. Organophosphate insecticides included chlorpyrifos, coumaphos, dichlorvos, diazinon, fonofos, malathion, parathion, phorate, terbufos, and trichlorfon. Phenoxy herbicides included 2,4-D; 2,4,5-T; and 2,4,5-TP. Pyrethroid insecticides included permethrin (for animals) and permethrin (for crops). Triazine herbicides included atrazine, cyanazine, and metribuzin.