Health effects due to pesticides effectively reduced in Denmark by a number of specific measures undertaken by government during the 1960s

Introduction. Petrochemical pesticides was introduced in Denmark shortly after WWII, and during their first 15 years on the  market, these compounds were used with little or no consideration of their potential toxicity. In the late 1950s, an epidemic of pesticide intoxications was recorded by the Danish National Board of Health. Since then, the hazards related to the use of pesticides became obvious for the population, the press and the authorities, and significantly control measures at all levels were implemented during the following years. Once control measures were introduced, the exposure dropped sharply within a few years, and since 1975, only sporadic cases of acute intoxication was notified. Thus, an important question is, if we are able to measure a declining trend concerning long term pesticide related chronic diseases too e.g. cancers types most often found in excess to pesticide exposure being leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer, and soft tissue sarcoma (STS).  

Methods Thus, we followed a historical cohort of 3,156 male gardeners from 1975 to 2002 with regard to incidence of cancer and Parkinsonism and compared these incidence to the national average standardized for age and calendar time.  

Results Among gardeners born prior to 1915, the cancer incidence were  increased for prostate cancer, leukemia, and soft tissue sarcoma and by birth-cohort a downward age tendency with the lowest incidence among the youngest birth-cohort. The same tendency was found concerning Parkinsonism.  

Conclusion These findings strongly indicates that technical improvement of the application devices combined with comprehensive pesticide control measures adopted around 1960 reduced or eliminated the excess of some important diseases related to the exposure to pesticides. But the main precondition for this absolutely success probable was founded on an already well educated and motivated population,-  conditions which is a lack in many developing countries.