Farmers were exposed to roughly twice as many pesticides as general population in EU study

Farmers in a newly published Europe-wide study were exposed to about twice as many pesticides as the general population — but researchers also found that people with no ties to agriculture carried residue from dozens of chemicals over the course of a week.

Silicone wristbands were used to measure exposure by capturing traces from air and skin contact in 641 participants, according to the study. Each wristband — worn for one week during the 2021 growing season across 10 European countries — was tested for 193 pesticide ingredients. The study authors did note some limitations: the 7-day snapshot shows how many pesticides people encountered, not how much or what health risks those exposures might pose.

While the study focused solely on European participants, its findings have implications beyond Europe as many of the same pesticides detected in the study are still widely used in the United States.

The EU typically takes “a markedly more cautious approach” than the U.S. does in regulating pesticides by banning or restricting pesticides when credible evidence suggests potential harm — even if all risks aren’t fully known, according to the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. In a May 2025 article, the center examined how pesticides banned in Europe continue to be produced, exported, and re-enter the U.S. food supply through imports. The U.S., by contrast, follows a risk-based approach that allows continued use as long as the perceived benefits outweigh the risks, the 2025 report said.

According to the EU study, conventional farmers’ wristbands had a median of 36 different pesticides detected compared with 17 for the general population.

The 10 most commonly detected fungicides — used to prevent mold on crops and seeds — included azoxystrobin, which appeared in nearly 90% of conventional farmers’ samples and 75% of general population samples, the data shows. Another frequently detected fungicide was boscalid, which is still widely used on soybeans and fruit crops in the U.S.

Insecticides were common across all groups — particularly permethrin, still widely used in the U.S., and chlorpyrifos, banned for farming in Europe but under limited review in the U.S. after a court overturned EPA’s 2021 food-use ban.

The EPA re-approved limited chlorpyrifos use and now restricts chlorpyrifos to 11 tightly controlled crops in select states, with a final decision expected in 2026.

The researchers say the results demonstrate the complexity of real-world exposures, with pesticide traces detected across farms, homes and neighborhoods.

“The comprehensive analysis of 193 pesticides and their transformation products, along with the assessment of mixture profiles, provides valuable insights into the complexity of pesticide exposure, which can be used in decision making for future toxicological and epidemiological studies,” the study authors wrote.

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