Fertilizers and Human Health-A Systematic Review of the Epidemiological Evidence.

IF 3.9 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Toxics Pub Date : 2024-09-26 DOI:10.3390/toxics12100694

Christos F Tagkas, Evangelos C Rizos, Georgios Markozannes, Maria A Karalexi, Lydia Wairegi, Evangelia E Ntzani

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: Fertilizers are widely used to supply nutrients to crops, thereby increasing yields and soil fertility. However, the effects of their production and application on human health through occupational, residential, and environmental exposure remain unclear.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review of epidemiological studies on the association between exposure to fertilizers and health-related outcomes.

Methods: We searched in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for cohort, case-control, cross-sectional, and ecological studies (up to May 2024) related to exposure to fertilizers and any reported human health endpoints across all age groups, without language or geographical limitations. Data were extracted for population and study characteristics, type of fertilizer used, exposure assessment, sample size, outcome and its definition, effect estimate, and quality characteristics from the eligible studies, and they were descriptively synthesized.

Results: We found 65 eligible publications, with 407 postulated associations. Forty-six publications (321 associations) assessed exposure to inorganic fertilizers, and nineteen studies (93 associations) assessed organic fertilizers. Exposure assessed was related to occupation, residence, and/or proximity. The assessed outcomes were diverse, with considerable harmonization challenges. Inorganic fertilizers have been associated with an increased risk of cancerous outcomes in a small number of studies with methodological limitations and low replication validity, while organic fertilizers have been associated with infections and diarrhea.

Conclusions: The epidemiological evidence suggests possible associations between inorganic fertilizers with solid organ tumors and hematological malignancies and organic fertilizers with infections and diarrhea. However, the available evidence is limited, and heterogeneity prevails. Further research is needed to enlarge the evidence base and increase the replication validity and robustness of the results.

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化肥与人类健康--流行病学证据的系统回顾。

背景：化肥被广泛用于为农作物提供养分，从而提高产量和土壤肥力。然而，化肥的生产和应用通过职业、住宅和环境接触对人体健康的影响仍不清楚：对肥料接触与健康相关结果之间关系的流行病学研究进行系统综述：我们在 PubMed、Scopus 和 Web of Science 中搜索了与肥料暴露和所有年龄组的任何人类健康终点报告相关的队列、病例对照、横断面和生态研究（截至 2024 年 5 月），没有语言或地域限制。我们从符合条件的研究中提取了有关人群和研究特征、所用肥料类型、暴露评估、样本大小、结果及其定义、效应估计和质量特征的数据，并对这些数据进行了描述性综合：结果：我们发现了 65 篇符合条件的出版物，其中有 407 篇推测存在关联。46篇出版物（321个关联）评估了无机肥料的暴露情况，19项研究（93个关联）评估了有机肥料的暴露情况。所评估的接触情况与职业、居住地和/或邻近地区有关。评估的结果多种多样，在协调性方面存在相当大的挑战。在少数研究中，无机肥料与癌症风险增加有关，但这些研究存在方法上的局限性，复制有效性较低，而有机肥料与感染和腹泻有关：流行病学证据表明，无机肥料可能与实体器官肿瘤和血液恶性肿瘤有关，有机肥料可能与感染和腹泻有关。然而，现有的证据有限，而且普遍存在异质性。需要进一步研究，以扩大证据基础，提高结果的复制有效性和稳健性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Toxics Chemical Engineering-Chemical Health and Safety

CiteScore

4.50

自引率

10.90%

发文量

681

审稿时长

6 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal accepts papers describing work that furthers our understanding of the exposure, effects, and risks of chemicals and materials in humans and the natural environment as well as approaches to assess and/or manage the toxicological and ecotoxicological risks of chemicals and materials. The journal covers a wide range of toxic substances, including metals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, biocides, nanomaterials, and polymers such as micro- and mesoplastics. Toxics accepts papers covering: The occurrence, transport, and fate of chemicals and materials in different systems (e.g., food, air, water, soil); Exposure of humans and the environment to toxic chemicals and materials as well as modelling and experimental approaches for characterizing the exposure in, e.g., water, air, soil, food, and consumer products; Uptake, metabolism, and effects of chemicals and materials in a wide range of systems including in-vitro toxicological assays, aquatic and terrestrial organisms and ecosystems, model mammalian systems, and humans; Approaches to assess the risks of chemicals and materials to humans and the environment; Methodologies to eliminate or reduce the exposure of humans and the environment to toxic chemicals and materials.