Fungicide exposure linked to retinal degeneration

Farmers’ wives who were exposed to certain fungicides had an increased risk of retinal degeneration, according to self-reported results in a large cohort study.

An association between retinal degeneration and fungicide use has already been observed in farmer pesticide applicators enrolled in the Agricultural Health Study. Jane A. Hoppin and colleagues gathered data via questionnaire from 31,173 wives of farmers in the study to determine whether the women were also at increased risk of retinal degeneration.

Associations of specific pesticides and groups of pesticides based on function or chemical structure with ocular disorders were evaluated. Fungicides were one of the groups of pesticides studied, along with herbicides, insecticides and fumigants.

Self-reported retinal degeneration was associated with the wives' fungicide use. Specific fungicides that appeared to drive the association were maneb or mancozeb and ziram, according to the study. No associations between pesticide use and other ocular disorders were found.

The study is published in the June issue of American Journal of Epidemiology.