RESUMO

Inner-city, minority populations are high-risk groups for adverse birth outcomes and also are more likely to be exposed to environmental contaminants, including environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and pesticides. In a sample of 263 nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women, we evaluated the effects on birth outcomes of prenatal exposure to airborne PAHs monitored during pregnancy by personal air sampling, along with ETS estimated by plasma cotinine, and an organophosphate pesticide (OP) estimated by plasma chlorpyrifos (CPF). Plasma CPF was used as a covariate because it was the most often detected in plasma and was highly correlated with other pesticides frequently detected in plasma. Among African Americans, high prenatal exposure to PAHs was associated with lower birth weight (p = 0.003) and smaller head circumference (p = 0.01) after adjusting for potential confounders. CPF was associated with decreased birth weight and birth length overall (p = 0.01 and p = 0.003, respectively) and with lower birth weight among African Americans (p = 0.04) and reduced birth length in Dominicans (p < 0.001), and was therefore included as a covariate in the model with PAH. After controlling for CPF, relationships between PAHs and birth outcomes were essentially unchanged. In this analysis, PAHs and CPF appear to be significant independent determinants of birth outcomes. Further analyses of pesticides will be carried out. Possible explanations of the failure to find a significant effect of PAHs in the Hispanic subsample are discussed. This study provides evidence that environmental pollutants at levels currently encountered in New York City adversely affect fetal development.

Assuntos

Clorpirifos/efeitos adversos , Exposição Ambiental , Inseticidas/efeitos adversos , Troca Materno-Fetal , Hidrocarbonetos Policíclicos Aromáticos/efeitos adversos , Resultado da Gravidez , Poluição por Fumaça de Tabaco/efeitos adversos , Adolescente , Adulto , Peso ao Nascer , População Negra , Desenvolvimento Infantil , Clorpirifos/sangue , República Dominicana/etnologia , Etnicidade , Feminino , Humanos , Recém-Nascido , Inseticidas/sangue , Masculino , Cidade de Nova Iorque , Hidrocarbonetos Policíclicos Aromáticos/sangue , Gravidez , Classe Social

RESUMO

Residential pesticide use is widespread in the United States. However, data are limited specific to use among minority populations. Nor are data available on the extent of pesticide exposure resulting from residential use during pregnancy. We have gathered questionnaire data on pesticide use in the home during pregnancy from 316 African-American and Dominican women residing in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx. Additionally, 72 women underwent personal air monitoring for 48 hr during their third trimester of pregnancy to determine exposure levels to 21 pesticides (19 insecticides and 2 fungicides). Of the women questioned, 266 of 314 (85%) reported that pest control measures were used in the home during pregnancy; 111 of 314 (35%) reported that their homes were sprayed by an exterminator, and of those, 45% said the spraying was done more than once per month. Most (>or= 90%) of the pesticide was used for cockroach control. Use of pest control measures increased significantly with the level of housing disrepair reported. Of the women monitored, all (100%) had detectable levels of three insecticides: the organophosphates diazinon (range, 2.0-6,010 ng/m3) and chlorpyrifos (range, 0.7-193 ng/m3) and the carbamate propoxur (range, 3.8-1,380 ng/m3), as well as the fungicide o-phenylphenol (range, 5.7-743 ng/m3). We also frequently detected the following four insecticides (47-83% of samples) but at lower concentrations: the pyrethroid trans-permethrin, piperonyl butoxide (an indicator of exposure to pyrethrins), and the organochlorines 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane and chlordane. Thirty percent of the women had detectable levels of all eight pesticides. Exposures were generally higher among African Americans than among Dominicans. We detected other pesticides in

Assuntos

Exposição Ambiental , Praguicidas/efeitos adversos , Complicações na Gravidez , Adulto , População Negra , Estudos de Coortes , Diazinon/efeitos adversos , Diazinon/análise , República Dominicana/etnologia , Feminino , Habitação , Humanos , Inseticidas/efeitos adversos , Inseticidas/análise , Cidade de Nova Iorque/epidemiologia , Praguicidas/análise , Pobreza , Gravidez , Valores de Referência , População Urbana