According to a recent study by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, pesticide use is positively linked to suicide and depression. The study analyzed data from various pesticide classes and found evidence supported a positive association between pesticide exposure and depression. Several specific pesticides were also positively identified as associated.
“Few previous studies have considered the episodic nature of depression or examined individual pesticides,” wrote the researchers of their findings, “We evaluated associations between pesticide exposure and depression among male private pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study.”
The team based their findings on reports competed by those exposed to pesticides over the past 20 years.
“We analyzed data for 10 pesticide classes and 50 specific pesticides used by 21,208 applicators enrolled in 1993–1997 who completed a follow-up telephone interview in 2005–2010,” wrote the team in a summary of their work.
The team calculated the amount of applicators who reported a physician diagnosis of depression and those who had previous diagnoses of depression.
The team concluded that their study “supports a positive association between pesticide exposure and depression, including associations with several specific pesticides.”
Several specific pesticides were directly linked to depression.
“[T]he fumigants aluminum phosphide and ethylene dibromide; the phenoxy herbicide (2,4,5-trichlorophenoxy) acetic acid (2,4,5-T); the organochlorine insecticide dieldrin; and the organophosphate insecticides diazinon, malathion, and parathion—were all positively associated with depression in each case group.”
The study, “Pesticide Exposure and Depression among Male Private Pesticide Applicators in the Agricultural Health Study,” was authored by John D. Beard, David M. Umbach, Jane A. Hoppin, Marie Richards, Michael C.R. Alavanja, Aaron Blair, Dale P. Sandler, and Freya Kamel, and was published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
By Sid Douglas