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Organic solvent exposure and depressive symptoms among licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study

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Abstract

Purpose

Although organic solvents are often used in agricultural operations, neurotoxic effects of solvent exposure have not been extensively studied among farmers. The current analysis examined associations between questionnaire-based metrics of organic solvent exposure and depressive symptoms among farmers.

Methods

Results from 692 male Agricultural Health Study participants were analyzed. Solvent type and exposure duration were assessed by questionnaire. An “ever-use” variable and years of use categories were constructed for exposure to gasoline, paint/lacquer thinner, petroleum distillates, and any solvent. Depressive symptoms were ascertained with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D); scores were analyzed separately as continuous (0–60) and dichotomous (<16 versus ≥16) variables. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate crude and adjusted associations between measures of solvent exposure and CES-D score.

Results

Forty-one percent of the sample reported some solvent exposure. The mean CES-D score was 6.5 (SD 6.4; median 5; range 0–44); 92% of the sample had a score below 16. After adjusting for covariates, statistically significant associations were observed between ever-use of any solvent, long duration of any solvent exposure, ever-use of gasoline, ever-use of petroleum distillates, and short duration of petroleum distillate exposure and continuous CES-D score (p < 0.05). Although nearly all associations were positive, fewer statistically significant associations were observed between metrics of solvent exposure and the dichotomized CES-D variable.

Conclusions

Solvent exposures were associated with depressive symptoms among farmers. Efforts to limit exposure to organic solvents may reduce the risk of depressive symptoms among farmers.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, 111 Washington Avenue, Suite 213, Lexington, KY, 40536-0003, USA

    Miriam Siegel & Wayne T. Sanderson

  2. Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Iowa, University of Iowa Research Park, 140 IREH, Iowa City, IA, 52242-5000, USA

    Sarah E. Starks & Fred Gerr

  3. Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH, MD A3-05, Research Triangle Park, PO Box 12233, Durham, NC, 27709, USA

    Freya Kamel & Jane A. Hoppin

Authors
  1. Miriam Siegel
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  2. Sarah E. Starks
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  3. Wayne T. Sanderson
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  4. Freya Kamel
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  5. Jane A. Hoppin
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  6. Fred Gerr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miriam Siegel.

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Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (R01-ES013067-03), the intramural research program of the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Z01-ES049030), and National Cancer Institute (Z01-CP010119).

Conflict of interest

M.S. received support for education from the Central Appalachian Regional Education and Research Center (CARERC). Remaining co-authors declare that they have no known conflict of interest.

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Siegel, M., Starks, S.E., Sanderson, W.T. et al. Organic solvent exposure and depressive symptoms among licensed pesticide applicators in the Agricultural Health Study. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 90, 849–857 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-017-1245-8

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