A large study confirms the cancer risks for French farmers

Lymphomas, leukemias, melanomas, central nervous system tumors or prostate cancer: most agricultural activities carry an increased risk of development some chronic diseases. This is the salient observation of the latest bulletin of the Agrican cohort, sent on Wednesday 25 November to the 180 thousand members of the Mutuelle sociale agricultural (MSA) enrolled in this epidemiological study, the largest on the subject conducted in the world.

More than a decade after the start of this long work, it is the third bulletin published by the researchers responsible for the project, and the first to be able to finely associate cancerous diseases with certain tasks and activities carried out by farmers, in animal and plant production. It is based on more than ten research articles published in recent years in the international scientific literature. More than one million people working in France, operators or employees of agricultural companies are affected.

The first observation is, however, that cohort members have approximately 25% lower mortality rates than the general population. A fact that the researchers urge to consider with caution, due to the bias known as “healthy worker”, well known to epidemiologists. In fact, cohorts of workers like Agrican bring together populations in a working situation, therefore not suffering from a certain number of disorders.

Another fact, which at first glance seems counterintuitive: that of a slightly lower incidence of cancer among farmers compared to the general population: respectively 7% and 5% fewer cancers among men and women in the cohort. . “ Warning: relying on these figures to state that agricultural activities do not present carcinogenic risks is easy but misleading, because it obscures the fact that farmers form a population whose habits and living conditions are different from the general population, with some risk factors less common, warns epidemiologist Pierre Lebailly, researcher at the Center François-Baclesse (University of Caen, Inserm), initiator and principal researcher of Agrican. In particular, farmers have a different diet, are less sedentary and smoke less than the rest of the population. ” Likewise, they are not exposed to the same type of air pollution as that of large urban concentrations.

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