Exposure to Pesticides and Herbicides, Linked to Brain Cancer in Women

Women that are exposure to chemical weed killers – pesticides and herbicides – may have a higher-than-normal risk of developing a particular form of brain cancer called meningioma as compared to women who weren’t exposed.

Meningiomas are slow-growing tumors that arise in the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord. They are one of the most common forms of brain tumor, and occur most frequently in middle-aged women.

Such were what a U.S. study result suggests as published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Researchers found that among more than 1,400 U.S. adults with and without brain cancer, there was no overall link between the disease and on-the-job exposure to pesticides or herbicides — chemicals used to kill plants, usually weeds.

However, a closer look at the data showed that women who had ever been exposed to herbicides at work had a two-fold higher risk of meningioma than women with no such exposure.

Find more details from India Reuters.