The association between residential pesticide use and cutaneous melanoma

Abstract Occupational pesticide exposure has been linked to cutaneous melanoma in epidemiological studies. We studied the association between cutaneous melanoma and the residential use of pesticides. This is a case-control study of cutaneous melanoma (287 incident cases; 299 controls). Data on pesticide use was obtained with a standardised interview. An increased risk of melanoma was found for high use (⩾4 times annually) of indoor pesticides (odds ratio (OR) = 2.18; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.07–4.43) compared to low use (⩽1 times annually), after adjustment for sex, age, education, sun exposure and pigmentary characteristics. Subjects exposed for 10 years or more had two and a half times the risk (OR = 2.46; 95% CI 1.23–4.94) of those exposed for less than 10 years. A dose response was observed for the intensity of pesticides use ( p trend  = 0.027). The results indicate that residential pesticide exposure may be an independent risk factor for cutaneous melanoma.