These studies varied widely in design, dose, exposure route, immunological biomarkers measured, and in presentation of results. However, most of those surveyed found evidence that major pesticide classes produced toxic effects on immune system organs, functioning, and competence. We drew attention to ongoing Canadian research into an Inuit population exposed through diet to organochlorine compounds, including pesticide residues. Following on that study, as the WRI report recounts, Eric Dewailly and his colleagues at the Laval University Hospital in Quebec initiated a prospective study of Inuit infants, examining chemical exposures, biomarkers of exposure, and clinical outcomes. The pesticide industry critique mischaracterizes this important research, which implicates organochlorines in immune disregulation and altered host resistance in a human population.
Immune surveillance is a well-recognized component of host resistance to cancer.
Exposures to such known immunosuppressive agents as cyclosporin A, a drug administered to transplant patients, results in strikingly increased risks of lymphatic tumors. In a case-control study, Rothman et al. Because this literature was virtually unknown in the West, we provided references and summaries. It is appropriate that pesticide industry scientists have now examined this body of evidence. It is true that the studies would not meet currently accepted standards of epidemiological research.