American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on February 22, 2006
American Journal of Epidemiology 2006 163(8):743-753; doi:10.1093/aje/kwj101
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Original Contribution |
Neural Tube Defects and Maternal Residential Proximity to Agricultural Pesticide Applications
1 Northern California Cancer Center, Berkeley, CA
2 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
3 Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
4 California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, Berkeley, CA
Correspondence to Dr. Rudolph P. Rull, Northern California Cancer Center, 2001 Center Street, 7th Floor, Berkeley, CA 94704-1204 (e-mail: rrull{at}nccc.org).
Residential proximity to applications of agricultural pesticides may be an important source of exposure to agents that have been classified as developmental toxins. Data on two case-control study populations of infants with neural tube defects (NTDs) and nonmalformed controls delivered in California between 1987 and 1991 were pooled to investigate whether maternal residential proximity to applications of specific pesticides or physicochemical groups of pesticides during early gestation increases the risk of these malformations. Maternal residential proximity within 1,000 m of pesticide applications was ascertained by linking mothers' addresses with agricultural pesticide use reports and crop maps. Odds ratios were computed by using conventional single- and multiple-pesticide and hierarchical multiple-pesticide logistic regression. In single-pesticide models, several pesticides were associated with NTDs after adjustment for study population, maternal ethnicity, educational level, cigarette smoking, and vitamin use. In a hierarchical multiple-pesticide model, effect estimates for only benomyl and methomyl suggested a possible association. Elevated risks of NTDs and anencephaly or spina bifida subtypes were also associated with exposures to chemicals classified as amide, benzimidazole, methyl carbamate, or organophosphorus pesticides and with increasing numbers of pesticides. These results suggest that ambient exposure to certain categories of agricultural pesticides may increase the risk of NTDs.
anencephaly; crops, agricultural; environmental exposure; geographic information systems; neural tube defects; maternal exposure; pesticides; spina dysraphism
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; NTD, neural tube defect; OR, odds ratio
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