Maternal occupational exposure to pesticides and the risk of musculoskeletal birth defects: a preliminary analysis

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bell EM ; Chapman BR ; Druschel CM ; Herdt-Losavio ML ; Kielb CL ; Lawton CC ; Lin S ; Rocheleau CM ; Romitti PA ; Stewart PA ; Waters MA
• Description:
  Introduction: This study investigates the association between maternal occupational pesticide exposure during the peri conceptional period and major musculoskeletal malformations in their infants. Methods: A multi-center case-control analysis was conducted using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study among women with due dates between October 1, 1997 and December 31, 2002. Cases included 1,041 live or still-born infants with transverse limb deficiencies, craniosynostosis, gastroschisis, or diaphragmatic hernia. Controls included 3,009 live-born infants without malformations. Self-reported maternal occupational information was used to estimate herbicide and insecticide exposure for each job held during one month pre-conception to three months post-conception. Pesticide exposure was estimated by an experienced industrial hygienist and metrics included whether any exposure occurred, exposure intensity, frequency, duration, and a cumulative index incorporating these variables for all jobs combined. To estimate peak exposure intensity and peak exposure frequency for mothers with multiple jobs, the job with the highest intensity and highest frequency, respectively, was used. Malformations with statistically significant crude associations were analyzed using logistic regression controlling for risk factors for each malformation, including infant sex, parity, maternal age, education, race/ethnicity, body mass index, folic acid use, alcohol use, and smoking. Results: Gastroschisis was associated with peak herbicide exposure frequency (adjusted odds ratio (adjusted OR): 2.80; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.33-5.93), peak herbicide exposure intensity (adjusted OR: 2.62; 95% CI: 1.33-5.15), and the top tertile of cumulative herbicide exposure (adjusted OR: 2.31; 95% CI: 1.34-3.99), versus no exposure after controlling for gastroschisis risk factors and any insecticide exposure. Transverse limb deficiencies were significantly associated with peak herbicide exposure frequency (adjusted OR: 2.54; 95% CI: 1.06-6.08) and intensity (adjusted OR: 2.66; 95% CI: 1.22-5.81). Both gastroschisis and transverse limb deficiencies were significantly associated with peak insecticide exposure intensity after controlling for risk factors for these anomalies and any herbicide exposure. Discussion: This study employs an extensive exposure assessment methodology to estimate occupational pesticide exposure. This research suggests that gastroschisis and limb deficiencies may be associated with maternal occupational herbicide and insecticide exposure. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Environmental Monitoring Herbicides Insecticides Musculoskeletal Diseases Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Pregnancy Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Birth-defects Children Demographic-characteristics Developmental-disorders Employee-exposure Exposure-assessment Information-retrieval-systems Job-analysis Mathematical-models Musculoskeletal-system-disorders Occupational-exposure Pesticides Prenatal-exposure Risk-analysis Risk-factors Statistical-analysis

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• ISSN:
  1542-0752
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Iowa ; New York ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 7 ; Virginia
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies ; DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  91
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038909
• Citation:
  Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol 2011 May; 91(5):351
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Part Number:
  Special Issue
• Source Full Name:
  Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:cbc1c6c3669a681e2fd4b319db206a7538b3639d92f4ef8f7bdcdc803657df96c0a43fc4df3d99bc77c5c7696d1b2a8cb179cd4560d9a8bdb7ce5ad4fe65b92d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192439/cdc_192439_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 160.60 KB ]