A systematic review of eight case-control studies involving 1,734 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) cases evaluated the association between occupational pesticide exposure and ALS risk. Exposure intensity was classified as ever exposed, low, high, or using other measures. A meta-analysis of six studies found that ever having occupational exposure to pesticides was associated with an increased risk of ALS among combined sexes (pooled odds ratio [pOR], 1.6). The risk was slightly higher with herbicide exposure (pOR, 1.7) than with insecticide or fungicide exposure (pOR, 1.6).
Based on three studies, ever exposure to high pesticide levels was associated with a higher ALS risk (pOR, 2.7) than low-level exposure (pOR, 1.9), findings compatible with a dose-response trend. These findings add to the evidence that occupational pesticide exposure may increase the risk of ALS. ##Reference##…
