Mortality among aerial pesticide applicators and flight instructors: Follow-up from 1965–1988
✍ Scribed by Kenneth P. Cantor; Warren Silberman
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 137 KB
- Volume
- 36
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0271-3586
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Background Vital status followup for a retrospective cohort mortality study of 9,961 male aerial pesticide applicators was extended beyond a previous study (1965±1979) (Cantor et al. 1991), through December 31, 1988. Methods Rate ratios (RR) were used to compare directly adjusted mortality rates between applicators and a comparison cohort of 9,969 ¯ight instructors. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated for comparisons with the U.S. white male population. Results Among applicator pilots, there were 1,441 deaths, and among instructors, 1,045. In both groups, aircraft accidents were the major cause of death (446 applicators; 234 instructors). Compared with ¯ight instructors, aerial applicator pilots were at signi-®cantly elevated risk for all causes of death (risk ratio 1.34) and for malignant neoplasms (1.18), non-motor vehicle accidents (1.71), motor vehicle accidents (1.69), and stroke (1.91). Pancreatic cancer (2.71) and leukemia (3.35) were signi®cantly elevated. Applicators were at lower risk of colon cancer (0.51) and multiple myeloma (0.23) mortality. Based on U.S. rates, the SMR for all causes of death among applicators was 111 (95% con®dence interval (CI) 105±117) and among instructors, 81 (CI 76±85). Conclusions Aircraft accidents were a major cause of mortality in both applicator and ¯ight instructor cohorts. Several other causes of death, some possibly related to pesticide exposure, were also elevated among pesticide applicator pilots.