Study: Farmers Suffer From Chemical Exposures

A study of more than 18,000 farmers shows a link between neurological symptoms and long-term exposure to agricultural chemicals. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin Toner reports:

Transcript

A study of more than 18,000 farmers shows a link between neurological symptoms and
long-term exposure to agricultural chemicals. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erin
Toner reports:


The study by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences included data on
farmers in North Carolina and Iowa. The farmers answered questions about lifetime
exposure to herbicides and insecticides, and about their history of neurological
symptoms.


Dale Sandler is chief of epidemiology for the NIEHS. She says 20 percent of the farmers
in the study experienced 10 or more neurological symptoms – some years after the
exposure.


“Dizziness, light-headedness, tremor, loss of vision, headache, fatigue. These are, as you
know, non-specific and people have these symptoms unrelated to pesticides, but they’re
also classic signs of pesticide poisoning.”


Sandler says the goal of the study is to find ways farmers can apply pesticides in a safer
way. She says future studies will look at links to long-term neurological diseases, such as
Parkinson’s.


For the GLRC, I’m Erin Toner.

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