Table 2.
Reports of the risk of thyroid cancer (TC) incidence of pesticide-exposed workers and agricultural occupations
| Overall | Men | Women | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reference | Study Design | Study Years | Study Size/Age Information |
Country | Source of Exposure Information |
Exposure Measure | Exposed N cases |
Risk Estimate | Exposed N cases |
Risk Estimate | Exposed N cases |
Risk Estimate |
| Cohort studies | ||||||||||||
| Beane Freeman 2011 [53] | I-PC | 4 | 57,310; 29 cases; median age <50 | United States | O-I | Atrazine (lifetime intensity weighted-days, 4th quartile vs. 1st quartile) | 29 | RR=4.84 (1.31-17.93) | ||||
| Lee 2004 [54] | I-PC | 1993-2000 | 49,980; 16 cases; median age <50 | United States | O-Q linked to exposure algorithm | Alachlor (exposed/nonexposed) | 10 | RR=1.63 (0.42-6.37) | ||||
| Alachlor (lifetime exposure days), Q4 to Q1 | 10 | RR=1.27 (0.10-16.4) | ||||||||||
| Alachlor (intensity weighted exposure days), Q4 to Q1 | 10 | RR=2.89 (0.22-38.7) | ||||||||||
| Population-based studies: JEMs and self-reported pesticide exposure | ||||||||||||
| Lope 2009 [49] | R-RC | 1971-1989 | 2,992,166; 2,599 cases; age range 24+ to not reported | Sweden | O-R linked to JEM | Pesticides/herbicides, possible exposure | 84 | RR=0.96 (0.77-1.20) | 12 | RR=0.93 (0.53-1.65) | ||
| Hallquist 1993 [47] | C-C | 1980-1989 | 180 cases; 360 controls; age range: 20-70 | Sweden | SR-Q | Herbicides | 5 | OR=0.8 (0.2-2.6) | ||||
| SR-Q | Insecticides | 20 | OR=1.1 (0.5-2.1) | |||||||||
| Population-based studies: agricultural occupations | ||||||||||||
| Carstensen 1990 [57] | R-RC | 1961-1979 | Sweden; 4167 cases; age range: 20-69 | Sweden | O-R | Farmers, fisherman, hunters | 184 | SIR=0.9 | 40 | SIR=0.96 | ||
| Franceschi 1993 [67] | C-C | 1985-1991 | 191 cases; 2,676 controls; median age 55 | Italy | O-I | Farmers | 20 | RR=0.8 (0.5-1.4) | 19 | RR=1.1 (0.6-1.8) | ||
| Hallquist 1993 [47] | C-C | 1980-1989 | 180 cases; 360 controls; age range: 20-70 | Sweden | O-Q | Farmer | 24 | OR=0.8 (0.4-1.5) | ||||
| Pukkala 2009 [46] | R-RC | 1961-2005 | 15,000,000; 6,487 cases; age range: 30-64 | Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden | O-R | Farmer | 639 | SIR=0.95 (0.88-1.02) | 420 | SIR=1.18 (1.07-1.30) | ||
| Gardeners | 136 | SIR=0.78 (0.66-0.92) | 544 | SIR = 1.04 (0.95-1.13) | ||||||||
| Fincham 2000 [50] | C-C | 1986-1988 | 1,272 cases; 2,666 controls; age data not reported | Canada | O-I | Farmer | 45 | OR=0.92 (0.64-1.32) | ||||
| Zivaljevic 2003 [68] | C-C | 1996-2000 | 204 cases; 204 controls; median age: 40-49 | Serbia | O-I | Agricultural worker | 11 | OR = 0.74 (0.30-1.79) | ||||
The risk of thyroid cancer was reported as standardized incidence ratio (SIR), odds ratio (OR), relative risk (RR), hazard ratio (HR), incidence rate ratio (IRR), and proportional incidence ratio (PIR). Bolding indicates a significant effect.
If the confidence interval is not presented with the risk estimate, it is because that information is not available in the original article.
D, Dosimetry; B, Biological Monitoring; O-R, Occupation from registry; O-Q, Occupation from questionnaire; O-I, Occupati on from interview; O-ER, Occupation from employment records; SR, self-reported exposure; JEM, job-exposure matrix.
I-RC, industry-based retrospective cohort; I-PC, industry-based prospective cohort; R-RC, registry-based retrospective cohort; RB-CC, registry-based case-control; C-C, case-control study.
* Additional stratified analyses available in publication not presented here.