Pesticides and human chronic diseases: evidences, mechanisms, and perspectives

Summary

This narrative review by Mostafalou and Abdollahi synthesises epidemiological and mechanistic evidence associating chronic pesticide exposure with a broad spectrum of human diseases, including diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancers, and reproductive disorders. The authors outline key toxicological mechanisms — including oxidative stress, disruption of the endocrine system, mitochondrial impairment, and epigenetic modification — through which pesticide exposures may contribute to disease pathogenesis. Published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, the paper provides a framework for understanding how cumulative, low-level pesticide exposure may pose systemic health risks beyond acute toxicity.

UK applicability

While the review draws on international evidence, its findings are broadly applicable to UK contexts given ongoing regulatory scrutiny of pesticide residues in food and the environment under UK and retained EU legislation; the mechanistic evidence it presents is relevant to UK public health policy and pesticide risk assessment frameworks.

Key measures

Disease association data from epidemiological studies; mechanistic pathways including oxidative stress markers, endocrine disruption, epigenetic changes, mitochondrial dysfunction, and inflammation; chronic disease categories including diabetes, cancer, neurodegeneration, and cardiovascular disease

Outcomes reported

The review examines epidemiological and experimental evidence linking pesticide exposure to a range of chronic diseases, including cancers, neurodegenerative disorders, metabolic diseases, and reproductive disorders, and discusses putative biological mechanisms such as oxidative stress, endocrine disruption, and mitochondrial dysfunction.

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