Does dichlorvos cause cancer in laboratory animals?
In one study, female mice that were fed high doses of dichlorvos over a long time had a higher frequency of stomach cancers than untreated mice. High doses of dichlorvos fed over two years caused an increase in the number of male rats that had pancreatic tumors and leukemia, (a type of cancer that affects the blood). Does dichlorvos cause cancer in humans? The risk for developing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma or multiple myeloma (cancers that affect the blood) was not significantly affected in male farmers who had used dichlorvos. A higher number of leukemia cases were reported in one study among male farmers who used dichlorvos for more than ten days per year, compared to those who had not used dichlorvos. A higher number of childhood brain cancer cases were reported among families that used dichlorvos, than families that did not. Both of these studies looked at a very small number of people who were also exposed to other chemicals, making it difficult to determine if dichlorvos was the caus
