Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32919961›Full record

ArticleEnvironmental research2020

Pesticide use and incident Parkinson's disease in a cohort of farmers and their spouses.

Srishti Shrestha, Christine G Parks, David M Umbach, Marie Richards-Barber, Jonathan N Hofmann, Honglei Chen, Aaron Blair, Laura E Beane Freeman, Dale P Sandler

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Environmental research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 44 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
44citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
10.0field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

44 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Systematic literature review of the epidemiology of glyphosate and neurological outcomes.International archives of occupational and environmental health · 2023
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. A PLAN to address the Parkinson pandemic.Journal of Parkinson's disease · 2025
    Review
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Review
  14. Review
  15. Observational
  16. Environmental Risk Factors for Parkinson's Disease: A Critical Review and Policy Implications.Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society · 2025
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Thinking outside the brain: Gut microbiome influence on innate immunity within neurodegenerative disease.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024
    Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Srishti ShresthaEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Christine G ParksEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
David M UmbachBiostatistics and Computational Biology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Marie Richards-BarberWestat Inc., Durham, NC, USA.
Jonathan N HofmannOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Honglei ChenDepartment of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Aaron BlairOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Laura E Beane FreemanOccupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Dale P SandlerEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Electronic address: sandler@niehs.nih.gov.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences · USNational Cancer Institute · USMichigan State University · USWestat (United States) · US

Funding

STUDIES OF OCCUPATIONAL CANCER--PESTICIDESZ01CP010119 · NCI · DIVISION OF CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY AND GENETICS · PI ALAVANJA, MICHAEL · 1996 to 2008
$5.0M
HEALTH EFFECTS OF EXPOSURES IN AGRICULTUREZ01ES049030 · NIEHS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES · PI SANDLER, DALE P · 1997 to 2008
$889k
Intramural NIH HHS Z01 CP010119Intramural NIH HHS Z01 ES049030
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundExtensive literature suggests an association between general pesticide use and Parkinson's disease (PD). However, with few exceptions, little is known about associations between specific pesticides and PD.

objectiveWe evaluated use of pesticides and incident PD in 38,274 pesticide applicators and 27,836 of their spouses in the Agricultural Health Study cohort followed over 20 years.

methodsWe used self-reported information on ever-use of 50 specific pesticides as of enrollment for both applicators and spouses, and considered intensity-weighted lifetime days (IWLD) reported at enrollment and through the first 5-year follow-up among applicators. We estimated covariate-adjusted hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using Cox regression. We also examined heterogeneity in associations by history of head injury and chemical resistant glove use.

resultsA total of 373 applicators and 118 spouses self-reported incident doctor-diagnosed PD. Ever-use of the insecticide terbufos (HR:1.31, 95%CI:1.02-1.68) and the herbicides trifluralin (HR:1.29, 95%CI: 0.99-1.70) and 2,4,5-T (HR:1.57, 95%CI:1.21-2.04) was associated with elevated PD risk. On the other hand, diazinon (HR:0.73, 95%CI: 0.58-0.94) and 2,4,5-TP (HR:0.39, 95%CI:0.25-0.62) were associated with reduced risk. We observed heterogeneity in ever-use associations by head injury and chemical-resistant glove use for some pesticides, with higher risk among those who reported a history of head injury, or who did not use gloves. PD risk was also elevated for applicators in the highest category of IWLD for dichlorvos, permethrin (animal use), and benomyl.

conclusionsWe found evidence of increased PD risk for some pesticides. Our results also suggest higher susceptibility for pesticide-associated PD among individuals with head injury as well as protection with use of chemical resistant gloves, although further research is needed to understand the impact of head injury. Research on current and newer pesticides, including mechanisms relevant to PD, is important given widespread pesticide use.

Indexed as

Occupational ExposureParkinson DiseasePesticidesAgricultureCohort StudiesFarmersHumansIowaNorth CarolinaSpousesPesticidesAgricultural health studyFarmersParkinson's diseasePesticides

Identifiers

PMID32919961
PMCPMC7822498
OpenAlexW3085459533

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.