Database Helps Consumers, Health Officials Link Diseases to Pesticide Exposure

The Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database, launched by Beyond Pesticides, captures the range of diseases linked to pesticides and tracks the latest epidemiologic and real-world exposure using peer-reviewed studies.

The national environmental and public health group Beyond Pesticides updated its Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database (PIDD), including over 1,100 study entries, with a relational search feature to address the complex pervasiveness of adverse health effects of pesticides.

This comprehensive database captures the range of diseases linked to pesticides and tracks the latest epidemiologic and real-world exposure using peer-reviewed studies. PIDD is comprised of epidemiologic and laboratory exposure studies and is continually updated to track the emerging findings and trends.

“We created this unique database to fill the gap between pesticides and multiple disease pathways. Pesticide exposure can promote the development of various diseases, many of which are co-occurring. This tool makes it easy for consumers and health officials alike to access scientific resources that bring to light both specific illnesses and a range of illnesses that affect public health from pesticide exposure,” Warren Porter, Ph.D., Beyond Pesticides board member and professor emeritus of zoology and environmental toxicology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Why is this database so important? Connections to pesticide exposure are being found in a growing number of studies that evaluate the causes of preventable diseases — including asthma, autism and learning disabilities, birth defects and reproductive dysfunction, endocrine disruption, immune system disorder, brain and nervous system disorders, and several types of cancer. “These links to diseases support an urgent need to shift to toxic‐free practices and policies,” says Dr. Porter.

Beyond Pesticides’ relational Pesticide-Induced Diseases Database further serves the purpose of demonstrating how pervasive pesticides exposure and how exposure can impact human health with numerous adverse health outcomes. Those exposed to pesticides do not only develop one symptom or disease, but can develop multiple, interconnected diseases. Studies find that pesticide exposure can cause oxidative stress leading to various illnesses, including neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, or oncological diseases. Many of the studies available in PIDD challenge the effectiveness of risk‐assessment‐based regulation which is intended to manage adverse disease outcomes.

Additionally, Beyond Pesticides just launched its new Pesticide Topic Submission Portal, where consumers and scientists can directly submit personal stories, anecdotes, news articles, and scientific findings.

Database Helps Consumers, Health Officials Link Diseases to Pesticide Exposure