RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Is pesticide exposure a cause of obstructive airways disease?
JF European Respiratory Review
JO EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW
FD European Respiratory Society
SP 180
OP 192
DO 10.1183/09059180.00005113
VO 23
IS 132
A1 Emma Doust
A1 Jon G. Ayres
A1 Graham Devereux
A1 Finlay Dick
A1 Joanne O. Crawford
A1 Hilary Cowie
A1 Ken Dixon
YR 2014
UL http://err.ersjournals.com/content/23/132/180.abstract
AB A systematic review was performed to identify any associations between pesticide exposure and the occurrence (both prevalence and incidence) of airways disease (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and wheezing symptoms. PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, Google Scholar and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched between September 2010 and October 2010 for papers with the inclusion criteria of English language, published after 1990, peer-reviewed and nondietary exposure. From a total of 4390 papers identified, 42 were included after initial assessment of content. After evaluating the included studies for quality, those considered to be at high risk of bias were excluded, leaving a total of 23 relevant papers. Results suggest that exposure to pesticides may be associated with prevalent asthma, but methodological issues, such as cross-sectional/case–control design, measurements of exposure and limited adjustment for confounders, limit the strength of the evidence base in this area. The association between pesticide exposure and asthma appears to be more evident and consistent in children than in adults. Exposure to pesticides may be associated with COPD; however, the strength of evidence for an association with COPD is weaker than for asthma. As the exposure metrics within each health end-point varied across studies, no meta-analyses were carried out.