New publications
Pesticide exposure is associated with incidence and mortality of prostate cancer
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Researchers have identified 22 pesticides that are consistently associated with prostate cancer incidence in the United States, with four of these pesticides also linked to prostate cancer deaths. The findings are published online by Wiley in the journal CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
To assess the association between 295 pesticides and prostate cancer incidence at the county level in the United States, the researchers conducted an environmental association study that included a 10- to 18-year time lag between exposure and prostate cancer development, reflecting the slow growth of most types of the disease. The period 1997-2001 was examined to analyze pesticide use, and 2011-2015 was examined to evaluate prostate cancer outcomes. Similarly, pesticide use data from 2002-2006 were compared with outcomes from 2016-2020.
Among the 22 pesticides showing a consistent association with prostate cancer incidence in both time-course analyses were three previously associated with the disease, including 2,4-D, one of the most commonly used pesticides in the U.S. The remaining 19 candidates not previously associated with prostate cancer included 10 herbicides, several fungicides and insecticides, and a soil fumigant.
Four pesticides linked to disease were also associated with prostate cancer mortality: three herbicides (trifluralin, cloransulam-methyl, and diflufenzopyr) and one insecticide (thiamethoxam). Only trifluralin is classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a “possible human carcinogen,” while the other three are considered “unlikely to be a carcinogen” or have evidence of “not being a carcinogen.”
"This study highlights the importance of examining environmental exposures, such as pesticide use, to potentially explain geographic variation in prostate cancer incidence and mortality in the United States. Based on these findings, we can advance our efforts to identify risk factors for prostate cancer and work to reduce the number of men who get the disease," said lead author Simon John Christoph Sorensen, PhD, of Stanford University School of Medicine.