A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil

Agriculture is a mainstay of many developing countries’ economy, such as Brazil. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Brazil is the major global consumer of pesticides. Irrespective of the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer suggests that pe...

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Main Authors: Sergio Akira Uyemura, Helga Stopper, Francis L. Martin, Vinicius Kannen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2017-10-01
Series:Frontiers in Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00273/full
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spelling doaj-0a9bcb90279e48178d1f77e6d24aeb8c2020-11-24T22:31:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Public Health2296-25652017-10-01510.3389/fpubh.2017.00273296991A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in BrazilSergio Akira Uyemura0Helga Stopper1Francis L. Martin2Vinicius Kannen3Department of Toxicology, Bromatology, and Clinical Analysis, University of São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, BrazilDepartment of Toxicology, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, GermanySchool of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United KingdomDepartment of Toxicology, Bromatology, and Clinical Analysis, University of São Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, BrazilAgriculture is a mainstay of many developing countries’ economy, such as Brazil. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Brazil is the major global consumer of pesticides. Irrespective of the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer suggests that pesticides promote human cancer risk, a prospective study reports that colorectal cancer (CRC) burden will increase in developing countries by approximately 60% in the coming decades. Here, we review the literature and public data from the Brazilian Federal Government to explore why pesticides levels and new cases of colon cancer (CC) are rising rapidly in the country. CC incidence is the second most common malignancy in men and women in the South and the Southeast of Brazil. However, while these regions have almost doubled their pesticide levels and CC mortality in 14 years, the amount of sold pesticides increased 5.2-fold with a corresponding 6.2-fold increase in CC mortality in Northern and Northeastern states. Interestingly, mortality from endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases are rapidly increasing, in close resemblance with the pesticide detection levels in food. Taken together, we discuss the possibility that pesticides might alter the risk of CC.http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00273/fullagricultureBrazilcolorectal cancerInternational Agency for Research on Cancerpesticides
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Sergio Akira Uyemura
Helga Stopper
Francis L. Martin
Vinicius Kannen
spellingShingle Sergio Akira Uyemura
Helga Stopper
Francis L. Martin
Vinicius Kannen
A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil
Frontiers in Public Health
agriculture
Brazil
colorectal cancer
International Agency for Research on Cancer
pesticides
author_facet Sergio Akira Uyemura
Helga Stopper
Francis L. Martin
Vinicius Kannen
author_sort Sergio Akira Uyemura
title A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil
title_short A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil
title_full A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil
title_fullStr A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil
title_full_unstemmed A Perspective Discussion on Rising Pesticide Levels and Colon Cancer Burden in Brazil
title_sort perspective discussion on rising pesticide levels and colon cancer burden in brazil
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
series Frontiers in Public Health
issn 2296-2565
publishDate 2017-10-01
description Agriculture is a mainstay of many developing countries’ economy, such as Brazil. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Brazil is the major global consumer of pesticides. Irrespective of the fact that the International Agency for Research on Cancer suggests that pesticides promote human cancer risk, a prospective study reports that colorectal cancer (CRC) burden will increase in developing countries by approximately 60% in the coming decades. Here, we review the literature and public data from the Brazilian Federal Government to explore why pesticides levels and new cases of colon cancer (CC) are rising rapidly in the country. CC incidence is the second most common malignancy in men and women in the South and the Southeast of Brazil. However, while these regions have almost doubled their pesticide levels and CC mortality in 14 years, the amount of sold pesticides increased 5.2-fold with a corresponding 6.2-fold increase in CC mortality in Northern and Northeastern states. Interestingly, mortality from endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases are rapidly increasing, in close resemblance with the pesticide detection levels in food. Taken together, we discuss the possibility that pesticides might alter the risk of CC.
topic agriculture
Brazil
colorectal cancer
International Agency for Research on Cancer
pesticides
url http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpubh.2017.00273/full
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