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Frequently Asked Questions
Enrollment and continued participation in the Agricultural Health Study is voluntary. Applicators enrolled in our study by completing a questionnaire during 1994 through1997, probably at a pesticide certification site. Spouses enrolled by completing a questionnaire for the Agricultural Health Study, either by mail or by phone. Enrollment is now complete.
Medical research suggests that while agricultural workers may be healthier than the general population, they may experience higher rates of leukemia, myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and cancers of the lip, stomach, skin, brain, and prostate than people in more urban areas. Also, other diseases like asthma, neurological diseases, and poor pregnancy outcomes, like spontaneous abortion, may be related to agricultural exposures. The study focuses on agricultural factors that may affect these and other health outcomes, but more importantly seeks to identify factors that promote good health. Although the study enrolled farmers who obtained a license to apply restricted-use pesticides, farmers may have other exposures that affect their health. For example, they may have regular contact with animals or grain dusts that have been linked to asthma in susceptible individuals.
Commercial pesticides applicators and farmers handle many of the same chemicals although the methods of application and the frequency of exposure may differ. This study will provide important information on the relationship between chemical exposures and health. Just as farmers may reduce exposure to chemicals that lead to disease by employing good work practices, commercial pesticide applicators also have opportunities to reduce their exposure to potentially harmful agents.
As the study progresses, study members will be re-contacted to update their health and occupational status or clarify the information they have previously given. This is customary in all long-term studies. Future contacts may include additional questionnaires or special studies that focus on specific farm or pesticide application practices or that focus on a particular health concern. Participation in future studies is entirely voluntary, although we hope that study members will recognize the importance of the information learned and be willing to continue to assist us in this important research effort.
Your participation, regardless of whether you are currently involved with farming, is important to the success of the Agricultural Health Study. Many of the health conditions we are interested in may occur many years after exposure to something on the farm. It is important that we keep in touch with the participants, regardless of whether they are still farming. We especially need to include retired farmers and commercial applicators and those who stopped working. If we only studied those who are still working, we might underestimate any long-term health risks associated with agricultural exposures. In addition, some of the conditions we are interested in may occur relatively soon after exposure (e.g. symptoms that occur after a pesticide spill). In that case it is especially important that we include those who are no longer handling pesticides so we can compare those who do and do not handle the chemical of interest. We recognize that retired farmers, commercial applicators and those who are sick may not be up to completing long questionnaires. Fortunately, the questionnaires for those who are no longer working will be much shorter because we will not need to collect detailed information on work practices.
Privacy laws generally prohibit release of personal information that could be used to identify participants in research projects such as this. To protect privacy to the "full extent of the law" your name is separated from the information you provide, and an I.D. number is substituted at the field stations in Iowa and North Carolina. Your name and other personal identifying information are stored in locked files at the field stations. Researchers generally have access only to portions of the data that have been computerized in such a way that they cannot tell the identity (name, address, etc.) of the participants. Access to the actual hand-completed questionnaires is restricted to key staff who have signed privacy agreements which bind them to protecting the privacy of study subjects. When we publicize results from the study, we only report summary information, never names of study members.
Periodic updates of the study appear in trade journals, newspapers, through the county extension service, the media and at this Web site. Also, we publish a newsletter about every 2 years. This newsletter is mailed to all our study members and includes information about how the study is progressing. It will be some time before the results are completed, as it takes years to assess a study that is so large and complex. One of the best ways to get current research information from the Ag Health Study is to check this Web site periodically.
Many people, including farmers, their families, and physicians, feel that the Agricultural Health Study is one of the most important studies ever conducted of exposures related to farming. Many studies, including those conducted by chemical companies to assess the safety of their own products, focus on high doses of pesticides over a short time and only assess the short-term effects of those exposures. Very little is understood about the health effects of lower doses over a long period. This study is being conducted to better understand these long-term effects. There is also a need to better understand the effects of these exposures on women and children. What is learned from this study could someday improve and even save lives. On the other hand, the study could help show that some chemicals people have worried about pose little health risk at the exposure levels normally encountered. Either way, it is very important to better understand the health effects of chemicals that people are exposed to on a regular basis.
Although a primary purpose of the Agricultural Health Study is to evaluate the relationship between agricultural exposures and health status, we are also interested in all aspects of agricultural life that might be related to health. Diet, tobacco and alcohol use are important determinants of health and deserve to be studied in their own right. Previous studies have shown that the death rates from many diseases are in fact lower among farmers. This could be because farmers smoke less or eat better diets than others. It is also important to have information on these factors when we evaluate disease risks that might arise from agricultural exposures.
We are trying to determine why some people who are exposed to certain toxins develop diseases, while others exposed to the same toxins do not. Genetics may explain this. We will use genetic information from cheek cells collected in the mouth rinse samples, combined with exposure information from questionnaires, to get a more complete picture of what is causing diseases. In addition to genetic information, mouth rinses also contain saliva which can be analyzed for substances that reflect occupational exposures. Some consider the buccal cell (cheek cell) collection this study's most important contribution to science. This is the first project of this magnitude to collect genetic information that helps scientists evaluate interactions between genetic susceptibility and agricultural exposures in causing specific diseases. This is on the cutting edge of new discoveries in science.
Participants will not be informed of individual results from tests done using the buccal cells. The tests we will conduct are for research purposes only. For most of these tests, we will not know how to interpret individual results in terms of risks or benefits. We will provide you with summary findings through periodic communications about research activities of the Agricultural Health Study.
Although you won't receive any direct benefits, the study may uncover factors that cause and prevent diseases among farmers and their families. Thus you will be helping all farmers and their families. Knowledge gained from this study can be used by the agricultural community to develop procedures for safer working conditions. Results from this study will also help us understand the risks associated with pesticides and other factors in the general population.
No. The genetic material will only be used for this study. Cloning experiments are prohibited in government-funded studies. |
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