Suicide mortality among agricultural workers by indicators of occupational and environmental exposure to pesticides

Abstract Purpose Several studies have reported associations between agricultural work and suicide. However, few have examined the relationship between pesticide exposure and suicide, regardless of whether pesticides were the method of death. Methods This study examines suicide rates among agricultural workers (AW) in the Serrana Region of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 1996 to 2022, focusing on pesticide exposure estimated by expenditure per worker from the 1996, 2006, and 2017 censuses. For the general population, exposure was estimated by expenditure per cultivated area. Temporal trends were assessed, and suicide odds ratios comparing AW with non-agricultural workers were adjusted for sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, and marital status. Adjusted odds ratios were also calculated across pesticide exposure tertiles for both AW and the general population, using the first tertile as reference. Results Findings indicate higher suicide rates in the SR between 1997 and 2022, with elevated suicide among AW compared to n-AW (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.03–1.94). AW in the highest tertile of pesticide expenditure per agricultural worker had higher odds of suicide (OR 1996 = 2.63; 95% CI: 1.09–6.06; OR 2017 = 2.37; 95% CI: 1.00-5.57) compared to those in the first tertile. A similar pattern was observed for the general population in the highest tertile of pesticide expenditure per cultivated area (OR 2017 = 2.47; 95% CI: 1.19–5.12). Conclusion AW in the SR of Rio de Janeiro exhibit higher odds of suicide, particularly those in areas with the highest pesticide expenditure per worker and per cultivated area.