Link confirmed between Roundup exposure and blood cancer

A new review on the relationship between pesticide exposure and the risk of blood cancers in the lymph glands (lymphomas) has confirmed the existence of a link with the world's most popular herbicide Roundup.

1. Glyphosate (Roundup) linked to cancer of the lymph tissue in new study
2. Non-hodgkin lymphoma and occupational exposure to agricultural pesticide chemical groups and active ingredients: a systematic review and meta-analysis - the study
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1. Glyphosate (Roundup) linked to cancer of the lymph tissue in new study
GreenMedInfo, April 29 2014
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/glyphosate-roundup-linked-cancer-lymph-tissue-new-study

Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and titled, "Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Occupational Exposure to Agricultural Pesticide Chemical Groups and Active Ingredients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," the paper focused on systematic reviews and a series of meta-analysis of almost 30 years worth of epidemiological research on the relationship between non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and occupational exposure to 80 agricultural pesticide active ingredients and 21 chemical groups. The review focused on 44 papers, all of which reported results from studies performed in high-income countries.

The study opened with mention of the "striking increase" observed in the incidence of non-Hodgkin's type lymphomas in the last 30 years. Because farmers tend to have low overall mortality but high rates of some cancers, it is believed that agrochemical exposure may help to explain this contradiction.

In addition to showing there is consistent evidence that pesticide exposures in occupational agricultural settings are important determinants of NHL, the study found that glyphosate exposure, in particular, was positively associated with a common subtype of NHL, namely, B cell lymphoma.

Glyphosate-Linked Lymphoma Only the Tip of the Toxicity Iceberg

This finding, while significant, is highly unsurprisingly given the accumulating data now extant showing that glyphosate and many of its so-called "inactive" ingredients including in herbicidal formulations such as Roundup are carcinogenic, perhaps even in infinitesimal (parts per trillion range) concentrations.
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2. Non-hodgkin lymphoma and occupational exposure to agricultural pesticide chemical groups and active ingredients: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Schinasi L, Leon ME
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2014 Apr 23;11(4):4449-527. doi: 10.3390/ijerph110404449.
Open access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24762670

Abstract

This paper describes results from a systematic review and a series of meta-analyses of nearly three decades worth of epidemiologic research on the relationship between non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and occupational exposure to agricultural pesticide active ingredients and chemical groups. Estimates of associations of NHL with 21 pesticide chemical groups and 80 active ingredients were extracted from 44 papers, all of which reported results from analyses of studies conducted in high-income countries. Random effects meta-analyses showed that phenoxy herbicides, carbamate insecticides, organophosphorus insecticides and the active ingredient lindane, an organochlorine insecticide, were positively associated with NHL. In a handful of papers, associations between pesticides and NHL subtypes were reported; B cell lymphoma was positively associated with phenoxy herbicides and the organophosphorus herbicide glyphosate. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was positively associated with phenoxy herbicide exposure. Despite compelling evidence that NHL is associated with certain chemicals, this review indicates the need for investigations of a larger variety of pesticides in more geographic areas, especially in low- and middle-income countries, which, despite producing a large portion of the world's agriculture, were missing in the literature that were reviewed.