Mix Of Pesticides Linked To Higher Cancer Risk

1 min

A large investigation by researchers at the French National Institute for Sustainable Development, the Institut Pasteur and University of Toulouse in France and the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases in Peru found a strong link between real-world exposure to mixtures of agricultural pesticides and higher cancer risk. Instead of studying single chemicals, the team analyzed how multiple pesticides interact across populations, using environmental data, cancer registries, and molecular biology.

Focusing on Peru — where agricultural activity and exposure levels are high — the investigators showed that rural and Indigenous communities are exposed to many pesticides simultaneously (around 12 on average). By mapping pesticide spread and comparing it with data from over 150,000 cancer cases, researchers found that regions with higher exposure had about a 150 percent greater cancer risk, even though the individual pesticides are not classified as carcinogenic by the World Health Organization.

The investigation also found that pesticides may cause early, hidden biological changes, especially in the liver, disrupting normal cell function long before cancer develops. These effects can accumulate and make the body more vulnerable to disease. Overall, the findings suggest current safety standards, which are largely focused on single chemicals, may underestimate the risks of actual agricultural practices.