New Study Reveals Higher Rates of Autism When Mothers Are Exposed to Pesticides

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Stephenie Hendricks 415 981-6205 ext. 355 , stepheniePesticide Action Network North AmericaNew Study Reveals Higher Rates of Autism When Mothers Are Exposed to PesticidesNew research suggests that children whose mothers lived near applications of the organochlorine pesticides endosulfan and dicofol during the first trimester of pregnancy are at significantly greater risk for developing Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The new study, Maternal Residence Near Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Autism Spectrum Disorders Among Children in the California Central Valley was conducted by researchers from the California Department of Health Services and the Public Health Institute in Oakland, California and funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The research is being made public Monday, July 30th, on the website of Environmental Health Perspectives, a peer reviewed scientific journal that is sponsored by the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences.The study found that the closer an expectant mother lived to applications of organochlorine pesticides, the greater the risk that her child would develop ASD. The timing of exposure was also found to be critical, with the exposure during the first trimester of pregnancy—when critical structures are developing in the brain—carrying the greatest risk of ASD.Researchers found the incidence of ASD among children born to mothers living near the locations of highest use of organochlorine insecticides during the first trimester of preganancy to be 6.1 times the incidence for mothers not exposed to these chemicals. “This is a very large effect,” said Susan Kegley, Senior Scientist at the Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA). “While it’s just a single study, there are not many environmental exposures with such a high correlation to incidence of disease.”Although this is a preliminary study, and the researchers caution that more research is needed before definitive conclusions can be drawn, several aspects of the work are especially noteworthy: The size of the increase in autism risk—a six-fold increase—is much larger than scientists are accustomed to seeing in studies of this kind; The relationship of the risk of developing ASD to the timing of pesticide applications is striking—the period of maximum risk coincides with the development of key brain structures during pregnancy; The relative risk decreases with distance from the pesticide application site, an observation that lends additional credence to the finding; The compounds have known effects on parts of the brain that other scientists have hypothesized might play a role in autism. The organochlorine insecticides found to be associated with the increased risk of ASD, endosulfan and dicofol, are used on cotton, grapes, tomatoes, lettuce, alfalfa, citrus, beans, and other fruit, nut and vegetable crops. In California, endosulfan is used most extensively in Fresno, Kings, and Imperial counties. Dicofol, a pesticide similar to DDT in its structure, is most used in Fresno, Tulare, and Kings counties. Endosulfan and dicofol are both PAN “Bad Actor” chemicals and suspected endocrine disruptors. Endosulfan is highly acutely toxic, and dicofol is considered to be a possible carcinogen by the US EPA. California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation is currently considering listing endosulfan as a toxic air contaminant. “Our community air monitoring has shown that one likely source of exposure is through the air, ” said PANNA staff scientist Karl Tupper, head of the organization’s environmental monitoring program. PANNA and their community partners have measured endosulfan in the air near homes adjacent to apple orchards in Washington State and near an elementary school next to a cabbage field in Hastings, Florida. Tupper said, “Many countries in Europe and around the world have already banned the use of these two chemicals because of their high toxicity to workers and the environment. This study suggests that there may be additional reasons to question the continued use of these pesticides.” Endosulfan is up for inclusion in the Rotterdam Convention, an international treaty requiring special import notifications for a list of problematic chemicals, and was recently nominated for global phase-out under the international Stockholm Convention. While once popular, little dicofol or endosulfan are used today, relative to other insecticides. “If use of these old organochlorine pesticides were totally eliminated, the effect on growers would be minimal, while significant numbers of children might be spared from autism,” said Tupper.###Available for Interviews Rudy Rull, Research Scientist, Northern California Cancer Center, rrull, 510-608-5181Karl Tupper, staff scientist, director of environmental monitoring for Pesticide Action Network North America, 415 981-1771 ext 314 karlSusan Kegley PhD, study advisory group member and Senior Scientist, Pesticide Action Network North America, 415 981-1771 skegleyPablo Rodriquez, study advisory group member and Director, Dolores Huerta Community Organizing Institute Dolores Huerta Foundation (510) 862-7371Dr. Isaac Pessah, a molecular biologist with the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, expert on autism and other childhood neurodevelopmental disorders.Contact through Karen Finney, Senior Public Information Representative, UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute, Public Affairs Office, UC Davis Health System (916) 734-9064 office, (916) 505-2601 mobile, (916) 762-7787 pager ResourcesThe California Department of Pesticide Regulation's risk characterization document on endosulfan: http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/empm/pubs/tac/draftrcd.htmEHP link: http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2007/10168/abstract.htmlPANNA endosulfan fact sheethttp://www.panna.org/resources/documents/endosulfanFactSheet200703.pdfPANNA Pesticides and Autism Resource Pagehttp://www.panna.org/resources/autism.html PAN PesticideInfo pagesEndosulfan: http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC35085 Dicofol: http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_Chemical.jsp?Rec_Id=PC33427PAN Florida Drift Catcher Air Monitoring Study in which endosulfan was found near an elementary schoolhttp://panna.org/campaigns/driftCatcherResults.html#FL06Use of dicofol in California: Top Crops, Top Counties http://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_ChemUse.jsp?Rec_Id=PC33427Use of endosulfan in California: Top Crops, Top Countieshttp://www.pesticideinfo.org/Detail_ChemUse.jsp?Rec_Id=PC35085Additional InformationASD is a family of developmental and behavioral disorders characterized by impaired social interaction, restricted communication, and repetitive stereotypic behaviors. Scientists are only beginning to understand the causes of ASD, and many experts suspect that both genetics and exposure to chemicals (while in the womb or early in life) play a role in the disorder. The objective of this study was to determine whether living close to pesticide applications during pregnancy is a risk factor for ASD. To determine whether there were links between in utero pesticide exposure and incidence of ASD, the researchers analyzed data collected by several California state health agencies to pinpoint where the mothers of autistic children were living when they were pregnant. The researchers also combined pesticide application records from the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and land use data from the Department of Water Resources to determine exactly where and when pesticide applications took place. By combining these data sets, the authors where able to look for associations between the incidence of ASD and proximity to pesticide applications during pregnancy. Because they had data showing which pesticide active ingredients were used where, the researchers could test association between specific pesticides and ASD. Since they alsohad information about when the pesticides where applied, they were able to examine how the timing of exposure during pregnancy affected ASD rates.Endosulfan is banned in Bahrain, Belize, Cambodia, Columbia, Germany, Kuwait, Netherlands, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, St Lucia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Syria, Tonga, United Arab Emirates and Malaysia. Dicofol is banned in Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Belize, and is not registered for use in at least 12 additional countries.http://www.panna.org/resources/newsroom/higherAutismRatesPesticides20070730.dv.html