Occupational exposure to pesticides and central nervous system tumors: results from the CERENAT case–control study

Background The etiology of the central nervous system (CNS) tumors remains largely unknown. The role of pesticide exposure has been suggested by several epidemiological studies, but with no definitive conclusion. Objective To analyze associations between occupational pesticide exposure and primary CNS tumors in adults in the CERENAT study. Methods CERENAT is a multicenter case–control study conducted in France in 2004–2006. Data about occupational pesticide uses—in and outside agriculture—were collected during detailed face-to-face interviews and reviewed by experts for consistency and exposure assignment. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were estimated with conditional logistic regression. Results A total of 596 cases (273 gliomas, 218 meningiomas, 105 others) and 1 192 age- and sex-matched controls selected in the general population were analyzed. Direct and indirect exposures to pesticides in agriculture were respectively assigned to 125 (7.0%) and 629 (35.2%) individuals and exposure outside agriculture to 146 (8.2%) individuals. For overall agricultural exposure, we observed no increase in risk for all brain tumors (OR 1.04, 0.69–1.57) and a slight increase for gliomas (OR 1.37, 0.79–2.39). Risks for gliomas were higher when considering agricultural exposure for more than 10 years (OR 2.22, 0.94–5.24) and significantly trebled in open field agriculture (OR 3.58, 1.20–10.70). Increases in risk were also observed in non-agricultural exposures, especially in green space workers who were directly exposed (OR 1.89, 0.82–4.39), and these were statistically significant for those exposed for over 10 years (OR 2.84, 1.15–6.99). Discussion These data support some previous findings regarding the potential role of occupational exposures to pesticides in CNS tumors, both inside and outside agriculture.