• Underactive thyroid linked to pesticide exposure    (PanUps, 19 Feb,2010)    The study found that wives of farmers who had been exposed to certain pesticides had a 12.5% incidence rate of thyroid diseases; compared to  1-8% n the general population. In the study of 44 pesticides, links to hypothyroidism (i.e., an under-active thyroid) increased  significantly for exposure to organochlorine insecticides -- such as aldrin, DDT, and lindane, fungicides, and the herbicide paraquat. Maneb/mancozeb was the only chemical studied that upped the risk of both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism.