> Yes, there is much evidence that a variety of cancers are
> elevated among those exposed to pesticides on or near
> farms where pesticides are routinely used, especially in
> areas where exposure via drinking water is common. The
> evidence is strongest for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and related
> cancers. There must be over a dozen major epidemiological
> studies in the U.S. showing elevated risk ratios among
> farm/rural communities.
I did a lit search on this because I don't trust the conventional wisdom on
either side of the debate about pesticide risk. The search logic was
"(growers or farmers) and (health or hygiene or cancer)". Out of the 153
hits I kept only about 70 abstracts from fairly large studies on
occupational health, except for a couple small studies focused on possible
cancer from pesticides, since this is a matter of central interest. Maybe
half the papers are about dust, allergies and pathological hazards,
including carcinogenic mycotoxins.
There have been some big studies and some meta-analyses concerning cancer
incidence and occupation. According to most of these, the overall cancer
incidence among farmers is lower than the population in general. Although
several types of cancer come up in one study only (statistical flukes?), the
things that seem to keep coming up are certain lymphatic cancers and
myelomas. A few studies showed increased incidence of stomach and rectal
cancers among farmers, but also similar increases among other workers
exposed to mineral dusts. Of course skin cancer is more likely among
farmers.