| A Critique of the World Resources Institute's Report "Pesticides and the Immune System: The Public Health Risks" John Acquavella,
1
Carol Burns,
2
Dennis Flaherty,
1
Michael Holsapple,
2
Ian Kimber,
3
Gregory Ladics,
4
Scott Loveless,
4
and Abraham Tobia
5
1
Monsanto Company, St. Louis, MO 63167 USA
2
Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI 48674 USA
3
Zeneca Company, Cheshire, England
4
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Newark, DE 19714 USA
5
BASF Company, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA Abstract
A recent World Resources Institute (WRI) report concluded that pesticides are a likely cause of immune suppression for millions of people throughout the world. The gravity of this conclusion motivated us to review the scientific evidence cited in the report. The predominant human evidence came from cross-sectional studies conducted in the former Soviet Union. These studies were difficult to evaluate due to incomplete reporting and had obvious limitations in terms of subject selection, exposure assessment, lack of quality control, statistical analysis, adequacy of the comparison group, and confounding. The toxicologic evidence was comprised mainly of acute high-dose studies in which the exposure conditions resulted in systemic toxicity. The relevance of these studies to effects at typical human exposure levels is questionable. We did not find consistent, credible evidence to support the conclusion of widespread pesticide-related immune suppression. Nonetheless, the WRI report is an important document because it focuses attention on a potentially important issue for future research and brings a substantial literature of foreign language studies to the attention of Western scientists. Key words : immune effects, pesticides. Environ Health Perspect 106:51-54 (1998) . [Online 15 January 1998] http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/1998/106p51-54acquavella/ abstract.html Address correspondence to J. McCarthy, American Crop Protection Association, 1156 Fifteenth Street, NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005. The Task Group acknowledges Harris Pastides for helpful comments on an earlier version of this manuscript. Received 12 May 1997 ; accepted 5 November 1997.
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