Varma D R
Environ Health Perspect. 1987 Jun;72:153-7. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8772153.
Although press reports indicate that the leakage of methyl isocyanate (MIC) on December 3, 1984, in Bhopal has led to an increase in spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, infant mortality, and fetal abnormalities, no clinical or experimental studies on the reproductive toxicity of MIC were reported in scientific journals for several months after the accident. We therefore conducted, 9 months after the accident, a preliminary survey of 3270 families in Bhopal and experimental studies on the effects of MIC in pregnant mice. It was found that 43% of pregnancies in women residing near the Union Carbide pesticide plant did not result in the birth of a live child. Likewise, exposure of mice to relatively low concentrations of MIC (9 and 15 ppm) for 3 hr caused complete resorption in more than 75% of animals. A decrease in fetal and placental weights was observed at 2 to 15 ppm MIC. In general, the experimental findings in mice corroborate the epidemiological data from Bhopal. The mechanism of the fetal toxicity of MIC remains to be established.
尽管新闻报道显示，1984年12月3日发生在博帕尔的异氰酸甲酯（MIC）泄漏事件导致自然流产、死产、婴儿死亡率和胎儿畸形率上升，但在事故发生后的几个月里，科学期刊上并未报道关于MIC生殖毒性的临床或实验研究。因此，在事故发生9个月后，我们对博帕尔的3270个家庭进行了初步调查，并对怀孕小鼠进行了MIC影响的实验研究。结果发现，居住在联合碳化物农药厂附近的女性中，43%的怀孕未产下活婴。同样，将小鼠暴露于相对低浓度的MIC（9和15 ppm）3小时，导致超过75%的动物胚胎完全吸收。在2至15 ppm的MIC浓度下，观察到胎儿和胎盘重量下降。总体而言，小鼠的实验结果证实了来自博帕尔的流行病学数据。MIC对胎儿毒性的机制仍有待确定。
