Common weedkiller linked to cancers
Atrazine, a weedkiller used on both agricultural crops and household lawns, may significantly raise risks for lung, kidney and other cancers, a new study finds.
Researchers from the National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences examined data on about 53,600 pesticide workers, finding higher incidence of six kinds of cancer among those who had applied atrazine as part of their jobs.
Workers with the highest levels of exposure to atrazine were at increased risk for soft tissue sarcoma and aggressive prostate cancer, particularly those under age 60. Atrazine use was associated with non-Hodgkin lymphoma for those under age 50, and with pharyngeal and kidney cancer in workers with exposure at least 25 years ago.
Lung cancer risk was elevated for all workers who had ever applied the herbicide, according to the study, which was published Feb. 21 in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Atrazine is one of the most common pesticides used in agriculture, with 72 million pounds applied annually to corn, sugar cane, sorghum and other crops. It is widely marketed for consumer use as a weed killer for lawns and is used in parks and on golf courses.
High levels of the chemical have been found in U.S. surface and drinking water. The European Union banned its use in 2004, citing environmental risks.
Previous research on atrazine’s cancer risk has found mixed results. The new study followed pesticide workers in Iowa and North Carolina for more than eight years and is “the largest and most comprehensive epidemiological evaluation of atrazine use and cancer risk,” the researchers said.
The Environmental Protection Agency monitors atrazine in community water systems under the Safe Drinking Water Act and is currently reviewing runoff risks the herbicide poses to aquatic plant life.
Strokes can occur quickly during extreme heat
Extremely high air temperatures can trigger a stroke within hours, a new study finds.
Published Feb. 28 in JAMA Network Open, the research found that people exposed to extremely high temperatures had an almost two times higher risk of experiencing an acute ischemic stroke — in which a clot keeps blood from flowing to the brain — within 10 hours.
While previous research has linked heat exposure to stroke risks, most studies have focused on daily hospital admissions and deaths instead of hourly findings. The new study, which used data from stroke centers in China, found that stroke risks could increase within the first hour.
The risks were not the same throughout the country, however. The odds of having a stroke within hours of extremely hot temperatures were higher in the northern part of China than the south, possibly because of less heat acclimatization among people in the more northern latitudes.
Men and smokers were at higher risk of stroke than women and non-smokers, the study found. People who had a history of irregular heart rhythms or dyslipidemia, a condition marked by abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels, had the highest risks among all study patients.
As climate change continues to raise temperatures around the world and heat waves become more common, more attention should be given to public health strategies that reduce cerebrovascular risk during periods of high heat, the researchers said.
High income inequality raises risk of vulnerability to disasters
U.S. communities with high income inequality are more vulnerable to health harms during disasters, a new analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau says.
In U.S. counties where income inequality was at or above the national average in 2022, about 23% of residents were at high risk for vulnerability during a disaster, according to the bureau’s Community Resilience Estimates Equity Supplement. In comparison, about 19% of residents in counties with low-income inequality were at high risk of vulnerability.
The supplement ranked how susceptible counties were to disaster harms based on measures of social vulnerability, such as low education level, lack of health insurance, poor transportation access and low English proficiency. Residents with three or more of the measures were deemed to be most vulnerable.
Mississippi, New York, Louisiana and New Mexico had the greatest percentages of residents with high social vulnerability for disasters, while Utah and New Hampshire ranked lowest, the Census Bureau found.
Income inequality — defined as the gap between earnings and the equalness in which income is spread across a population — can harm mental and physical health through stress and lower community cohesion. People with low incomes are more likely to live in areas that are at higher risk for harm during disasters, such as in neighborhoods that flood frequently, and are less able to prepare for them.
Review: Link between mental health, maternal deaths shows need for interventions
Mental health conditions are an under-recognized contributor to America’s soaring maternal death rates and should be prioritized in interventions, a new review concludes.
Nearly a quarter of deaths in women who are pregnant or have recently given birth are linked to mental health disorders such as overdose, depression, anxiety and substance use. Despite those high numbers, mental health interventions lag for the population, said the evidence review, which was published Feb. 22 in JAMA Psychiatry.
For example, while almost 30% of women who are pregnant or have recently given birth experience depression, only 20% are screened for it. One study found that many women who died of suicide or overdose had a documented psychiatric disorder, but only 35% received medication for it. Among women who had died from overdose, only about 28% received medication-assisted treatment, a crucial tool for recovery.
U.S. maternal death rates continue to outpace other high-income countries, with particularly high numbers among Black women, who die at 2.6 times the rate of white women. More than 1,200 U.S. women died from maternal causes in 2021, jumping from about 750 in 2019.
Mental health conditions accounted for about 23% of 2021 deaths, followed by hemorrhages, at 14%; cardiac and coronary conditions, at 12.8%; and infections, at 9.2%. Other causes included thrombotic embolism, cardiomyopathy and hypertension.
The researchers called for greater attention to the stressors that contribute to mental health among pregnant and postpartum women, as well as earlier screenings and consistent treatment.
On Feb. 29, the American Medical Association released a new report aimed at reducing opioid overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum women, which rose 80% from 2017 to 2020. The report notes that medication-assisted treatment is the standard of care for opioid use disorder during pregnancy and that patients should not be punished for receiving it.
The Watch is written by Michele Late, who has more than two decades of experience as a public-health journalist.
