Pesticides and mortality from hormone-dependent cancers

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are considered to be a possible cause of hor mone-dependent cancers. In areas of high exposure to pesticides, people are concerned about the long lasting toxicity of pesticides, some of which are possibly hormonally active. We collected for each Belgian municipality (n = 589) the latest mortality statistics from breast and prostate cancer (per iod 1985-1994) and the latest data on crops and pesticides (1998). In addit ion, data on possible confounders such as population density, degree of urb anization, industrial activity and the presence of an incinerator were coll ected as well. The data were analysed with spatial statistics that takes in to account the spatial nature of the data. There is a large variation in cr ops and pesticide exposure among the municipalities, the highest exposure b eing seen in the fruit production area. Apart from use of defoliants and po tato cultivation, no consistent correlation was detected between crops, pes ticides and mortality from breast and prostate cancer. Our data cannot supp ort the hypothesis of a relationship between total and class-related pestic ide use and breast and prostate cancer mortality. However, the increased mo rtality due to breast cancer and to a lesser extent due to prostate cancer in traditional potato-growing areas needs attention and more research. (C) 2001 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.