Levario-Carrillo Margarita, Amato Dante, Ostrosky-Wegman Patricia, González-Horta Carmen, Corona Yolanda, Sanin Luz Helena
Unidad de Investigación Médica en Epidemiología Clínica, Hospital de Ginecología y Obstetricia IMSS, Av. División del Norte 2300 CH 44-228, Colonia Altavista, CP 31320 Chihuahua, México.
Chemosphere. 2004 Jun;55(10):1421-7. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2003.11.027.
The increased use of organophosphorus insecticides in agriculture and their widespread existence in the environment poses a potential health hazard. To determine the relationship between exposure to pesticides and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR), live newborns from singleton pregnancies, with (n = 79) and without (n = 292) IUGR were studied. During the gestational period the mothers were living in agricultural communities in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. Exposure to agrochemical products was evaluated. A significant association between the history of positive exposure to pesticides (i.e. the women themselves or their newborns who showed acetylcholinesterase activity levels lower than 20%) and the presence of IUGR was found. The proportions of exposure in the cases were 18% and 8% in the control group; the adjusted OR (fat free mass, anti-cytomegalovirus antibodies and placental weight) was 2.33 (p = 0.04).
