Pesticide link to autism suspected.

July 31, 2007

"Teresa Binstock" <binstock (AT) peakpeak (DOT) com> (courtesy Sheri Nakken)

The information in the article is a tad misleading because D'Amelio et al

2005 described an association between autism and an organophosphate (1).

Teresa

http://www.latimes. com/news/ local/la- me-autism30jul30 ,1,7552764. story?track=rss

Pesticide link to autism suspected

A state study suggests two farm sprays may raise chances of having a child

with the disorder.

By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer

July 30, 2007

Exposure

click to enlarge

Women who live near California farm fields sprayed with organochlorine

pesticides may be more likely to give birth to children with autism,

according to a study by state health officials to be published today.

The rate of autism among the children of 29 women who lived near the fields

was extremely high, suggesting that exposure to the insecticides in the

womb might have played a role. The study is the first to report a link

between pesticides and the neurological disorder, which affects one in

every 150 children.

But the state scientists cautioned that their finding is highly preliminary

because of the small number of women and children involved and lack of

evidence from other studies.

"We want to emphasize that this is exploratory research," said Dr. Mark

Horton, director of the California Department of Public Health. "We have

found very preliminary data that there may be an association. We are in no

way concluding that there is a causal relationship between pesticide

exposure of pregnant women and autism."

The two pesticides implicated are older-generation compounds developed in

the 1950s and used to kill mites, primarily on cotton as well as some

vegetables and other crops. Their volumes have declined substantially in

recent years.

Examining three years of birth records and pesticide data, scientists from

the Public Health Department determined that the Central Valley women lived

within 500 meters, or 547 yards, of fields sprayed with organochlorine

pesticides during their first trimester of pregnancy. Eight of them, or

28%, had children with autism. Their rate of autism was six times greater

than for mothers who did not live near the fields, the study said.

Susan Kegley, senior scientist of Pesticide Action Network North America, a

San Francisco-based advocacy group, said the report adds to an existing

body of evidence that endosulfan and dicofol, already banned in some

countries, are harmful.

"This is one of the first papers that links use of pesticide to incidence

of a disease, and autism in particular," she said. "The findings are very

strong. This is a sixfold risk factor in comparison to someone who is not

exposed. There aren't too many studies that come out like that."

Even though small numbers of children were involved, "it is still one of

those things that make you sit up and pay attention," she said.

The findings suggest that 7% of autism cases in the Central Valley during

the years studied 1996 through 1998 might have been connected to

exposure to the insecticides drifting off fields into residential areas.

Births during those years were analyzed because children born later might

not yet be diagnosed with autism.

Children with autism spectrum disorders have impaired social and

communication skills. The causes are unknown, but because diagnoses have

been increasing, scientists have been exploring various environmental

factors, including children's vaccines and chemical pollutants.

"The good news is we've used a new research technology to generate

hypotheses and possible associations, so we are making progress in the

battle to get more information" about the cause of autism, Horton said.

The goal of the study was to "systematically explore the general hypothesis

that residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications during

pregnancy could be associated with autism spectrum disorders in offspring,"

the authors wrote in their study, published online today in the scientific

journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The scientists collected records of nearly 300,000 children born in the 19

counties of the Sacramento and San Joaquin river valleys. Of those

children, 465 had autism. The scientists then compared the addresses during

pregnancy to state records that detailed the location of fields sprayed

with several hundred pesticides.

For most pesticides, no unusual numbers of autism cases were found, but the

exception was a class of compounds called organochlorines. Most, including

DDT, were banned in the United States several decades ago because they were

building up in the environment. Only dicofol and endosulfan remain.

The autism rate was highest for children of those mothers who lived the

closest to the fields and it declined as the distance from the fields

increased.

There is no other human or animal evidence that the two chemicals can cause

autism. But both affect nerves and the brain and cause reproductive

effects and alter hormones in animal tests. In addition, dicofol is a

possible human carcinogen.

The scientists concluded that "the possibility of a connection between

gestational exposure to organochlorine pesticides and autism spectrum

disorders requires further study."

A July report by the state Department of Pesticide Regulation said

endosulfan can spread far from fields via the air and expose the public,

based on air monitoring in Fresno, Monterey and Tulare counties. The agency

is likely to designate endosulfan as a toxic air contaminant soon, and

dicofol could follow. That designation triggers a review by the agency to

see whether steps should be taken to minimize the chemicals drifting off

fields into nearby communities.

Glenn Brank, spokesman for the pesticide agency, said officials there are

"very interested" in the new autism data but say that "more work" on the

potential link is needed before it can carry much weight in assessments of

the chemicals' risks.

The two insecticides are now used much less often than in the years in

which the possible connection to autism was found. As a result, there is

less likelihood that pregnant women are exposed today. Nearly 774,000

pounds were applied in 1996, compared with 277,000 pounds in 2005, down

nearly 64%, according to state records.

"In the past couple years, the bottom has dropped out of these two," Brank

said.

Insects have built up resistance and cotton farmers have switched to new

compounds.

The two chemicals are not found in household or yard pesticides. Traces are

found in food, but the study looked only at possible exposure from the air.

The chemicals are used most extensively in Fresno, Kings, Imperial and

Tulare counties. Dicofol is mostly used on cotton, oranges, beans and

walnuts. Endosulfan is used primarily in tomato processing and on lettuce,

alfalfa and cotton crops.

What if a “dirty bomb” exploded over a large segment of U.S.population that simultaneously exposed citizens to Hepatitis B,Hepatitis A, tetanus, pertussis, diphtheria, three strains of polio viruses, three strains of influenza, measles, mumps, and rubella viruses, two types of meningitis, four strains of herpes viruses, the chickenpox virus, 7 strains of Streptococcus bacteria, and four strainsof rotavirus. • We would declare a national emergency.• It would be an “extreme act of BIOTERRORISM• The public outcry would be immense and our government would react accordingly.And yet, those are the very organisms we inject into our babies and our small children in

multiple doses, with immature, underdeveloped immunesystems, many at the same time with vaccines. But instead of bioterrorism, we call it “protection.” Reflect on that irony.- Dr Sheri Tenpenny, MD

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