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Tye E. Arbuckle,¹ Zhiqiu Lin,² and Leslie S. Mery³

¹Bureau of Reproductive and Child Health, Population and Public Health Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; ²Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario Canada; ³Cancer Bureau, Population and Public Health Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Abstract

The toxicity of pesticides on human reproduction is largely unknown--particularly how mixtures of pesticide products might affect fetal toxicity. The Ontario Farm Family Health Study collected data by questionnaire on the identity and timing of pesticide use on the farm, lifestyle factors, and a complete reproductive history from the farm operator and eligible couples living on the farm. A total of 2,110 women provided information on 3,936 pregnancies, including 395 spontaneous abortions. To explore critical windows of exposure and target sites for toxicity, we examined exposures separately for preconception (3 months before and up to month of conception) and postconception (first trimester) windows and for early (< 12 weeks) and late (12-19 weeks) spontaneous abortions. We observed moderate increases in risk of early abortions for preconception exposures to phenoxy acetic acid herbicides [odds ratio (OR) = 1.5 ; 95% confidence interval (CI) , 1.1-2.1], triazines (OR = 1.4 ; 95% CI, 1.0-2.0) , and any herbicide (OR = 1.4 ; 95% CI, 1.1-1.9) . For late abortions, preconception exposure to glyphosate (OR = 1.7 ; 95% CI, 1.0-2.9) , thiocarbamates (OR = 1.8 ; 95% CI, 1.1-3.0) , and the miscellaneous class of pesticides (OR = 1.5 ; 95% CI, 1.0-2.4) was associated with elevated risks. Postconception exposures were generally associated with late spontaneous abortions. Older maternal age (> 34 years of age) was the strongest risk factor for spontaneous abortions, and we observed several interactions between pesticides in the older age group using Classification and Regression Tree analysis. This study shows that timing of exposure and restricting analyses to more homogeneous endpoints are important in characterizing the reproductive toxicity of pesticides. Key words: atrazine, carbaryl, developmental toxicity, epidemiologic methods, glyphosate, herbicides, pesticides, phenoxy acetic acid herbicides, spontaneous abortion, thiocarbamates, triazine, windows of vulnerability. Environ Health Perspect 109:851-857 (2001) . [Online 14 August 2001]

http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2001/109p851-857arbuckle/ abstract.html

Address correspondence to T.E. Arbuckle, Bureau of Reproductive and Child Health, Population and Public Health Branch, Health Protection Branch Building Rm. 1348, A.L. 0701D, Health Canada, Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0L2 Canada. Telephone: (613) 941-1287. Fax: (613) 941-9927. E-mail: Tye_Arbuckle@hc-sc.gc.ca

This work was supported in part by Grant ES-05502 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Received 4 December 2000 ; accepted 2 March 2001.