Agricultural pesticides linked to fetal death

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Agricultural pesticides linked to fetal death JoAnn Guest May 05, 2005 17:35

PDT

Keith Mulvihill / Reuters Health 13feb01

A Case-Control Study of Pesticides and Fetal Death Due to Congenital

Anomalies [ Abstract below ]

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Fetal-Death-Link.htm

NEW YORK - Pregnant women living close to farms where pesticides are

sprayed on fields may have an increased risk of having a fetus die due

to birth defects, according to a report.

 

However, lead author Dr. Erin M. Bell cautions that " this is an area of

research that will require further investigation. " Bell completed the

research while at the University of North Carolina School of Public

Health, Chapel Hill, and is currently at the National Cancer Institute

in Bethesda, Maryland.

 

" Future research will need to define actual exposures to pesticides and

their effect on particular time periods during a woman's pregnancy, " she

said in an interview with Reuters Health.

 

In the study, Bell and colleagues evaluated 1984 data from 10 California

counties. At that time the law required that applications of certain

pesticides be reported to the state. The investigators identified 73

women who had a fetus die due to heart malformations, anencephaly (a

condition in which parts of the brain or spinal cord are missing), or

other problems.

 

This group of women was compared with 611 women who gave birth to

infants with no birth defects, and both groups of women were matched to

data on pesticide applications in their area. The findings are published

in the March issue of the journal Epidemiology.

 

" We found a slight increase of fetal death due to birth defects when

pesticides were applied near where the pregnant women lived, " Bell said.

 

 

The timing of the exposure played an important role, Bell noted. If the

women were exposed during the 3rd and 8th week of pregnancy--the point

when the fetal organs are forming--the fetus seemed to be the most

vulnerable to the effects of pesticide exposure.

 

" The association increased for women living within 1 mile of the field

where pesticide application occurred, " Bell told Reuters Health.

However, the researchers were unable to directly measure the women's

exposure to the pesticides.

 

" Our exposure classification method did not guarantee that a mother was,

in fact, exposed, because wind and weather conditions, hour of

application and the location of the mother at the time of the

application are all factors that would determine actual exposure, " Bell

and colleagues write.

 

More study is needed to confirm the association, the authors conclude.

 

SOURCE: Epidemiology 2001;22:148-156.

 

 

--

 

 

A Case-Control Study of Pesticides and Fetal Death Due to Congenital

Anomalies

Epidemiology 2001 March;12(2):148-156 Mar01

Erin M.Bell1; Irva 1 Hertz-Picciotto; James J. 2 Beaumont

 

From the 1Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health,

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, and 2Beaumont

Epidemiology, Davis, CA.

 

EPIDEMIOLOGY 2001;12:148-156

 

We examined the association between late fetal death due to congenital

anomalies (73 cases, 611 controls) and maternal residential proximity to

pesticide applications in ten California counties. A statewide database

of all applications of restricted pesticides was linked to maternal

address to determine daily exposure status. We examined five pesticide

chemical classes. The odds ratios from logistic regression models,

adjusted for maternal age and county, showed a consistent pattern with

respect to timing of exposure; the largest risks for fetal death due to

congenital anomalies were from pesticide exposure during the 3rd–8th

weeks of pregnancy. For exposure either in the square mile of the

maternal residence or in one of the adjacent 8 square miles, odds ratios

ranged from 1.4 (95% confidence interval = 0.8–2.4) for phosphates,

carbamates, and endocrine disruptors to 2.2 (95% confidence interval =

1.3–3.9) for halogenated hydrocarbons. Similar odds ratios were observed

when a more restrictive definition of nonexposure (not exposed to any of

the five pesticide classes during the 3rd–8th weeks of pregnancy) was

used. The odds ratios for all pesticide classes increased when exposure

occurred within the same square mile of maternal residence.

 

Keywords: fetal death; pesticides; congenital anomalies; phosphates;

pyrethroids; halogenated hydrocarbons; carbamates; endocrine disruptors.

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