6/12/2005.

Workplace exposure to the common pesticide diazinon appears to increase the risk of lung cancer and possibly other cancers, according to a major study. New findings from the long-running US government-sponsored Agricultural Health Study has 'found evidence of an association of lung cancer and leukaemia risk with increasing lifetime exposure days to diazinon,' said Dr Michael CR Alavanja from the National Cancer Institute and colleagues, reporting in the 1 December issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. Diazinon is an organophosphate, a group of chemicals already linked to neurological disorders and other health risks. The study is the latest in a series linking workplace and environment exposure to pesticides to increased cancer rates.

• Laura E. Beane Freeman, Matthew R. Bonner, Aaron Blair and others. Cancer incidence among male pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study cohort exposed to diazinon. American Journal of Epidemiology 162(11): 1070-1079 (2005) [abstract]