Pesticides as a risk factor for metabolic syndrome: Population-based longitudinal study in Korea

Backgrounds Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is an adverse health effect that can be associated with pesticide exposure. However, there are few epidemiologic studies on the relationship between pesticide use and MetS incidence. Methods We examined the causal relationship between pesticide use and MetS incidence in a rural population. We used Data from the Korea Farmers Cohort study of 1,162 participants. Poisson regression with a robust error variance was used to calculate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) to estimate the relationship between pesticide exposure and MetS. Results The incidence of MetS was 20.7%. Pesticide use increased the RR of MetS incidence. In women, we observed a low-dose effect related to MetS and pesticide exposure. Conclusion Pesticide exposure was related to the incidence of MetS; the causal relationship differed in men and women.