Häufung von Hautkrebs (Melanom) in 15 Landkreisen Pennsylvanias mit oder in der Nähe von Ackerland gefunden. Nach Berücksichtigung von Sonnenlicht/UV-Strahlung und sozioökonomischen Faktoren fielen zwei Muster auf: Landkreise mit mehr Ackerland und solche mit höherem Herbizideinsatz wiesen deutlich höhere Melanomraten auf.

I’ve linked to the press release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://ascopubs.org/doi/10.1200/CCI-25-00160

From the linked article:

**Skin cancer cluster found in 15 Pennsylvania counties with or near farmland**

Counties in Pennsylvania that contained or were near cultivated cropland had significantly higher melanoma rates compared to other regions, according to a new study led by scientists at Penn State.

Researchers at Penn State Cancer Institute analyzed five years of cancer registry data, 2017 through 2021, and found that adults over the age of 50 living in a 15-county stretch of South Central Pennsylvania were 57% more likely to develop melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, than residents elsewhere in the state. They published their findings today (Nov. 14) in the journal JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics.

**The usual suspect — sunlight — was considered as a part of the study. But even after adjusting for ultraviolet radiation in Pennsylvania and socioeconomic factors, two patterns stood out: Counties with more cultivated cropland and those with higher herbicide use had significantly higher melanoma rates**.

„Pesticides and herbicides are designed to alter biological systems,” said Eugene Lengerich, emeritus professor of public health sciences at Penn State and senior author on the paper. “Some of those same mechanisms, like increasing photosensitivity or causing oxidative stress, could theoretically contribute to melanoma development.”

The researchers found that for every 10% increase in the amount of cultivated land, melanoma incidence rose by 14% throughout that region. A similar trend appeared with herbicide-treated acreage: a 9% increase corresponded to a 13% jump in melanoma cases.

And the rest of us EAT that food.