Proximity to Pesticide Use and Risk of Birth Defects, Fetal Death
Not only do we have to pay attention to the things we knowingly put into our bodies in order to stay healthy, but we also have to be aware of other sources of toxins from the environment: polluted city water, air pollution, pesticides from home use as well as from nearby agricultural use. The scary thing about this study is that the most dangerous time for exposure to the developing fetus is 3 to 8 weeks–many times this is before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
Epidemiology. 2001:12(2):148 The study, which involved almost 700 women in 10 California counties, showed an increased risk of death among developing fetuses, ranging from 40% to 120% among those whose mothers lived near crops where certain pesticides were sprayed. A report on the study will appear in the March issue of Epidemiology. “Our study showed a consistent pattern with respect to timing of exposure,” said Dr. Erin M. Bell, who earned her doctorate with the research at the UNC School of Public Health, and is now an epidemiologist with the National Cancer Institute. “The largest risks for fetal death due to birth defects were from pesticide exposure during the third week to the eighth week of pregnancy.”That span — much of the first trimester — appears to be a special window of vulnerability for birth defects, Bell said, as earlier research has suggested.”The risks appeared to be strongest among pregnant women who lived in the same square mile where pesticides were used,” she said.