Farmers and Farmworkers Face DNA and Cellular Damage with Chronic Pesticide Exposure, Study Finds

(Beyond Pesticides, May 29, 2025) A study, published in Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, “investigates genotoxic effects on farmers in Paraíba, Brazil, analyzing buccal mucosa cells [cells from inside the cheek] for DNA and cellular damage,” the authors write. In comparing data from 33 pesticide-exposed agricultural workers to 29 unexposed people in a control group, the researchers report that the “findings revealed significantly higher frequencies of cellular alterations and DNA damage among exposed farmers relative to the control group, with no significant impact from factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, or family cancer history.”

They continue, “These results underscore the genotoxic risks linked to prolonged pesticide exposure and highlight the necessity for stricter regulatory measures.” As Beyond Pesticides documents in Disproportionate Pesticide Hazards to Farmworkers and People of Color Documented… Again, farmworkers have been excluded from labor and occupational safety protection laws since their inception. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) defers all policy on pesticide protections to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which has been widely criticized for providing inadequate worker protection standards.

This study focuses on workers in Brazil, but represents issues that impact communities worldwide. “The agricultural sector plays a pivotal role in Brazil’s economy, encompassing both family farming for food production and agribusiness for exporting commodities,” the authors state. They continue: “This growth has resulted in a substantial rise in pesticide usage, making Brazil one of the world’s largest consumers of these chemicals. Alarmingly, about 80% of pesticides sold in Brazil lack approval in at least three OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] countries.” (See here, here, here, and here.)