The scientific evidence that pesticides damage the immune system is impressive. The risks are greatest in the developing world and countries of the former Soviet Union, where hundreds of millions of farmworkers, farm households, and consumers, often without adequate safeguards, apply pesticides with known acute and chronic toxicity that have long been banned or restricted on health grounds in the United States. Given the poor health and housing conditions that already obtain in these countries, pesticide-induced immunosuppression might substantially increase the burden of common diseases such as pneumonia, gastroenteritis, or measles. This report documents the significant worldwide public health risk posed by this situation, arguing that it justifies greater efforts to reduce pesticide exposures and much-expanded research into pesticide-induced immunosuppression and its health consequences. Chapter II describes patterns and trends in pesticide use in various parts of the world. Chapter III presents evidence that farmers, farm households, and households exposed to persistent pesticides through their diet represent large populations potentially at risk. Chapter IV summarizes a large amount of experimental research on pesticide immunotoxicity, citing the conclusions of immunologists and toxicologists who have reviewed this evidence. It also describes some important studies of immune deficiencies in marine mammals exposed to pesticides that bioaccumulate up the food chain. Chapter V summarizes epidemiological research on human populations, focusing especially on key studies carried out in Canada and the former Soviet Union. Chapter VI explains the compounding risk factors that make this issue especially critical in developing nations and countries in transition from socialism. The final chapter summarizes the entire report and presents conclusions and recommendations. Includes references
