Agricultural exposure and asthma risk in the AGRICAN French cohort.
Epidemiological studies have reported an increased risk of respiratory diseases in agricultural population, but a protective "farm-effect" has also been reported for asthma. In the AGRICAN cohort, self-reported doctor-diagnosed asthma was analyzed according to allergy, in relation with history of life-time exposure to 13 crops and 5 livestock, pesticide exposure and early life on a farm, taking into account sex, age, education and body mass index. Among the 1246 asthmatics (8.0%), 505 were allergic (3.3%) and 719 non-allergic (4.6%). In multivariate analysis, a significant excess was observed, only for allergic asthma, in vine-growing (OR=1.43, p=0.002), fruit-growing (OR=1.58, p=0.001), greenhouses (OR=1.66, p=0.02), grasslands (OR=1.35, p=0.009), beets (OR=1.52, p=0.003) and horses (OR=1.35, p=0.04). Pesticide use and history of pesticide poisoning were significantly associated with allergic asthma in grassland, vineyards and fruit-growing and with non-allergic asthma in beets. Living on a farm in the first year of life tended to be protective for childhood allergic asthma in farms with livestock (OR=0.72, p=0.07) but deleterious in farms with vineyards, fruit or vegetables (OR=1.44, p=0.07). In AGRICAN, an increased risk of allergic asthma was observed with crop exposure, pesticide use and early life on a farm, especially in vine-growing, grassland, beets, fruit and vegetable-growing.
Université Bordeaux, ISPED, Laboratoire Santé Travail Environnement, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; INSERM, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897-Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; CHU de Bordeaux, Service de Médecine du Travail, F-33000 Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: Isabelle.Baldi@isped.u-bordeaux2.fr.
Isabelle
I
Baldi
Université Bordeaux, ISPED, Laboratoire Santé Travail Environnement, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; INSERM, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897-Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, F-33000 Bordeaux, France.
Céline
C
Robert
Université Bordeaux, ISPED, Laboratoire Santé Travail Environnement, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; INSERM, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897-Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, F-33000 Bordeaux, France.
Florence
F
Piantoni
INSERM, UMR1086-Cancers et Préventions, F-14000 Caen, France; Univ. Caen Basse-Normandie, F-14000 Caen, France; Centre François Baclesse, F-14000 Caen, France.
Séverine
S
Tual
Université Bordeaux, ISPED, Laboratoire Santé Travail Environnement, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; INSERM, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897-Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, F-33000 Bordeaux, France.
Ghislaine
G
Bouvier
INSERM, UMR1086-Cancers et Préventions, F-14000 Caen, France; Univ. Caen Basse-Normandie, F-14000 Caen, France; Centre François Baclesse, F-14000 Caen, France.
Pierre
P
Lebailly
Université Bordeaux, ISPED, Laboratoire Santé Travail Environnement, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; INSERM, ISPED, Centre INSERM U897-Epidemiologie-Biostatistique, F-33000 Bordeaux, France; CHU de Bordeaux, Service de Pneumologie, F-33400 Pessac, France.
Chantal
C
Raherison
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000383:Agriculture; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010575:Pesticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D018570:Risk Assessment
D010575:Pesticides
Asthma; Epidemiology; Farming; Pesticides; Risk factors