(Beyond Pesticides, March 11, 2008) A Decade of Children’s Health Research: Highlights from EPA’s Science to Achieve Results Program, a ten-year Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) study released March 10, 2008, summarizes important research findings found from $127 million invested in research grants on children’s environmental health in response to an executive order issued in 1997. Executive Order 13045, Protection of Children From Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks, requires federal agencies to place a high priority on assessing risks to children. EPA, through its Science to Achieve Results (STAR) program, issued more than 60 research grants in response to this order, which in turn, produced more than 1000 scientific journal articles. “Understanding potential environmental health risks to children is important to EPA,” said George Gray, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “This research will help us assess and address environmental factors that may affect some of the most vulnerable members of our society.” The report summarizes research from the STAR children’s health program over the past 10 years, highlighting scientific findings in epidemiology, exposure science, genetics, community-based participatory research, interventions, statistics and methods. Some of the major findings of this research include: People metabolize pesticides differently based […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 26, 2008) The United Farm Workers of America, Beyond Pesticides and others, represented by lawyers from Earthjustice, argued in federal court that the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) decision to allow the use of azinphos-methyl until 2012 was unconscionable. The plaintiffs say EPA did not consider harm to farmworkers and their families, or to rivers, lakes and salmon, and the agency should be forced to reconsider. “There are workers getting sick,” Patti Goldman, a lawyer for Earthjustice, told U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. “This isn’t just hypothetical. There are workers being taken out of the field.”The AP reports that Cynthia Morris, a Justice Department lawyer who argued on the agency’s behalf, told the judge that the short-term benefits of allowing growers to keep using AZM for the next several years outweigh the potential harm. She argued that the agency’s decision was reasonable, and failed to meet the “arbitrary and capricious” standard for the judge to undo it.In November 2006, EPA decided that AZM poses unreasonable adverse effects and must be banned but allowed its continued use on fruit crops for six more years — until 2012 — and on nut crops for three more years — until […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 19, 2008) Common household chemicals and widespread pollutants are changing male reproductive health and impacting sexual function, development and cancer rates of today’s generations and possibly their offspring, according to more than 15 years of research by a Colorado State University expert. For example, one study looking at sperm counts globally from 1940, when chemicals first began to be widely produced, to the 1990s, indicates a 1.15 percent per year decline in sperm counts. These declines may be linked to chemical exposure.Rao Veeramachaneni, BVSc, MScVet, PhD, a biomedical sciences professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has found that chemicals including pesticides, common pollutants in ground water, and chemicals in plastics, make-up and nail polish are on a growing list of culprits causing developmental abnormalities such as impaired sperm quality and impotence. Reproductive health can be compromised if males are exposed at various times in life spanning from in utero up to adulthood.Dr. Veeramachaneni’s findings span the globe and are across species lines, from humans to horses, wildlife to frogs. His research, coupled with the collective findings of other experts in the field, indicates a strong link related to pollutants, and incidence of such […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 13, 2008) The publication of a federal study undertaken by the Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) has been blocked for more than seven months because it contains “alarming information” of evidence of elevated infant mortality and cancer rates in the region surrounding the Great Lakes.The report entitled, Public Health Implications of Hazardous Substances in the Twenty-Six U.S. Great Lakes Areas of Concern, was commissioned by the International Joint Commission (IJC), an independent organization that advises the U.S. and Canadian governments on the use and quality of boundary waters between the two countries, and compiled by the CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The report outlines the “areas of concern” in which more than nine million people in major metropolitan areas as Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee, face higher health risks from exposure to dioxin, PCBs, pesticides, lead, mercury, or six other hazardous pollutants.Contributors to the report include senior experts from the Environmental Protection Agency, CDC, universities, as well as federal and state researchers. These experts have been reviewing data since 2004 and have found low birth weights, elevated rates of infant mortality and premature births, and elevated death rates from breast cancer, colon […]

(Beyond Pesticides, February 7, 2008) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded more than $500,000 in federal grant funds to several states and non-profit organizations to be used for programs to educate health care providers and women of childbearing age on environmental health risks.The grants were provided to five states and non-profit organizations in Ohio, Michigan, Oregon, Florida, and Texas, and are to focus on educating women, especially pregnant women, on the hazards of environmental contaminants and hazards to children. Health issues such as exposure to mercury, lead, environmental tobacco smoke, chemicals, pesticides, drinking water contaminants, and indoor and outdoor air contaminants have been especially targeted. These grants are estimated to benefit 3,000 health care providers and 10,000 women of childbearing age.“We’re giving pregnant women information on how to avoid exposure to certain environmental hazards to give children a healthy start to life,” said Dona Deleon, acting director, Office of Children’s Health Protection and Environmental Education. “These grants help the public health community reach women during this important time in their lives.”According to the EPA, pregnancy is a time for joy and celebration, but it is also a time to be especially careful about the environment in which one […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 31, 2008) A study to be published in the February 2008 issue of Environmental Health Perspectives finds that children who eat a conventional diet of food produced with chemical-intensive practices carry residues of organophosate pesticides that are reduced or eliminated when they switch to an organic diet. The study is entitled “Dietary Intake and Its Contribution to Longitudinal Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure in Urban/Suburban Children” (Chensheng Lu, Dana B. Barr, Melanie A. Pearson, and Lance A. Waller) and includes authors from Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, and the National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.According to the authors, “The objective of this article is to present the data of assessing young urban/suburban children’s longitudinal exposure to OP [organophosphate] pesticides in a group [of] young children participating in the Children Pesticide Exposure Study (CPES). The results from this study identify not only the predominant source of OP pesticide exposure but also the profile of exposures in children that are vital in formulating the strategies, both from the regulatory policy and personal behavior change perspectives, in reducing children’s exposures to OP pesticides.” The study design included 23 children, male and female, from the Seattle […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 29, 2008) University of Cambridge scientists say there may be a link between persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including pesticides, and Type 2 Diabetes. The Cambridge scientists are advocating additional research into the little understood links between environmental pollution and adult onset diabetes. In the most recent edition of the journal Lancet, Oliver Jones, Ph.D., and Julian Griffin, Ph.D., highlight the need to research the possible link between persistent organic pollutants (POPs, a group which includes many pesticides) and insulin resistance, which can lead to adult onset diabetes. In their commentary, Dr. Jones and Dr. Griffin cite peer reviewed research including that of D. Lee, et al, which demonstrated a very strong relationship between the levels of POPs in blood, particularly organochlorine compounds, and the risk of type 2 diabetes. “Of course correlation does not automatically imply causation,” says Dr. Jones. “But if there is indeed a link, the health implications could be tremendous. At present there is very limited information. Research into adult onset diabetes currently focuses on genetics and obesity; there has been almost no consideration for the possible influence of environmental factors such as pollution.” Interestingly, in the Lee study an association between obesity and […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 28, 2008) Reclaiming Our Healthy Future: Political change to protect the next generation, the 26th National Pesticide Forum, will be held March 14-16 at the University of California, Berkeley. Register now to pay the pre-registration rate. Recent speaker additions include Marla Cone, author of Silent Snow and environmental journalist with the Los Angles Times; Paul Saoke, executive director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Kenya; and Ted Schettler MD, science director of the Science and Environmental Health Network. These speakers will be joining a line-up which already includes Arturo Rodriguez (UFW President), Devra Davis, Ph.D. (author and University of Pittsburgh professor of epidemiology) and Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D. (UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology). Also, actress Kaiulani Lee will perform A Sense of Wonder, her one-woman play based on the life and works of Rachel Carson. The conference themes are pesticides and health with a particular focus on  children and workers, a vision for a just and sustainable food system, and creating political change. A tentative schedule of events is now available on the Forum webpage. Marla Cone is one of the nation’s premier environmental journalists. She has 22 years of experience covering environmental issues, including 18 years at […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 9, 2008) Triclocarban, an antibacterial compound widely used as an additive to a range of household and personal care products including bar soaps, detergents, body washes, cleansing lotions, and wipes, has been found to have an amplification effect on the activity of natural hormones, which in turn can lead to adverse reproductive and developmental effects. In the study, published online November 29, 2007 in Endocrinology, researchers from University of California- Davis and Yale University investigated the endocrine disrupting properties of triclocarban and other polychlorinated diphenyl urea compounds by exposing human cells and rats to levels similar to those found in people. Triclocarban was found to have a synergistic interaction with the sex hormone, testosterone- present in both males and females. This interaction produced a positive, amplified biological effect, which is likely to hyperstimulate native sex hormones. This amplification of sex hormone activity occurs at the target cell and can result in developmental defects or decreased reproductive function. Researchers further explained that ovulation and ovarian function in females can be disrupted, while sperm quality can be decreased in males. The researchers also point out that the results of their study create a new category for endocrine disruptive substances […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 8, 2008) Reclaiming Our Healthy Future: Political change to protect the next generation, the 26th National Pesticide Forum, will be held March 14-16 at the University of California, Berkeley. Register now to pay the pre-registration rate. James Roberts, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina and co-author of Recognition and Management of Pesticide Poisonings, and Jim Riddle, outreach coordinator for the University of Minnesota Organic Ecology program, have recently been added to the program. Previously announced speakers include Arturo Rodriguez (UFW President), Devra Davis, Ph.D. (author and University of Pittsburgh professor of epidemiology) and Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D. (UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology). Also, actress Kaiulani Lee will perform A Sense of Wonder, her one-woman play based on the life and works of Rachel Carson. Session topics include: Children’s health and public policy; Farmworker justice, organizing and consumer action; Building just and healthy food systems; Power of local activism to influence political change; Pesticides and the secret history of the war on cancer; Skills training sessions; DDT and malaria; Global warming and biofuels; Biomonitoring and pesticide drift; Lawns and landscapes; Managing indoor environments; Water quality and much more. Jim Riddle is outreach […]

(Beyond Pesticides, January 4, 2008) A study appearing in the January 2, 2008 issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine has found a correlation between women’s exposure to farm pesticides and allergic asthma. The study’s lead author, Jane Hoppin, Sc.D., of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, cited the lack of information on the risks incurred when women apply pesticides, saying, “Farm women are an understudied occupational group.” The study evaluated data on 25,814 farm women who are participating in the Agricultural Health Study in Iowa and North Carolina. “This is the largest study of farmers and their families in the world, so it gives us an opportunity to look at diseases that haven’t been well characterized,” said Dr. Hoppin. The women self-reported their doctor-diagnosed asthma, and the team separated them into subgroups of allergic and non-allergic asthmatics. They also found that more than half of the responders had used or been exposed to pesticides, while 61 percent grew up on a farm. The resulting data found that use of pesticides increased risk of allergic asthma by almost 50 percent, but not of non-allergic. Where a woman grew up also affected her likelihood to develop […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 17, 2007) People exposed to banned organochlorine pesticides and other toxic chemicals that persist in the environment are more likely to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), according to new research funded by the British Columbia Cancer Agency. The study, “Organochlorines and risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma”, was published in the International Journal of Cancer on December 15, 2007 and is so far the largest to examine organochlorines in plasma and their link to illness. The researchers measured the levels of pesticides or pesticide metabolites and congeners of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the blood of 880 British Columbians, half with NHL and the other half control subjects. Several pesticide analytes and a number of congeners showed a significant association with NHL. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma is the fifth most common cancer in Canada and the most common type of lymphoma. “We know that the incidence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma has been steadily rising for the past 30 years worldwide, but there hasn’t been clear evidence to explain the increase,” says Dr. John Spinelli, Ph.D., lead author and a senior scientist at the BC Cancer Agency. “Our study helps to provide answers to this puzzle by showing a strong link between these specific environmental […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 11, 2007) Arturo Rodriguez (UFW President), Devra Davis, Ph.D. (author and University of Pittsburgh professor of epidemiology) and Tyrone Hayes, Ph.D. (UC Berkeley professor of integrative biology) will be speaking at the 2008 National Pesticide Forum. The conference, Reclaiming Our Healthy Future: Political change to protect the next generation, will be held March 14-16, 2008 at the University of California, Berkeley. A native of Texas, Arturo S. Rodriguez has worked tirelessly to continue the legacy of Cesar Chavez since taking over the helm of the United Farm Workers of America (UFW) upon the death of its legendary founder in 1993. Beyond winning fair contracts for its workers, the UFW continues to work to protect farmworkers from pesticides and other workplace hazards. Recent union victories are agreements with Gallo Vineyards Inc. and Coastal Berry Co., the largest winery and the largest strawberry employer in the U.S., as well as pacts protecting winery workers in Washington and mushroom workers in Florida. Devra Davis, Ph.D., a renowned environmental health expert, is professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Dr. Davis was designated a National Book Award Finalist for her book, When Smoke Ran Like […]

(Beyond Pesticides, December 6, 2007) A study published in Environmental Health Perspectives this month finds that children born to mothers living in households with pesticide use during pregnancy have over twice as much risk of getting cancer, specifically acute leukemia (AL) or non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). The study, Household Exposure to Pesticides and Risk of Childhood Hematopoietic Malignancies: The ESCALE Study (SFCE), 115:1787—1793 (2007) , investigates the role of household exposure to pesticides in the etiology of childhood hematopoietic malignancies, using the national registry-based case—control study ESCALE (Etude sur les cancers de l’enfant) that was carried out in France over the period 2003—2004. The researchers evaluated maternal household use of pesticides during pregnancy and paternal use during pregnancy or childhood which was reported by the mothers in a structured telephone questionnaire. Insecticides (used at home, on pets or for garden crops), herbicides and fungicides were distinguished. The researchers estimated odds ratios (ORs) using unconditional regression models closely adjusting for age, sex, degree of urbanization, and type of housing (flat or house). The researchers included a total of 764 cases of acute leukemia (AL), 130 of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), 166 of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) , and 1,681 controls. Insecticide use during pregnancy […]

November 13, 2007) Autism is on the rise, both in prevalence and incidence, and there is growing evidence that environmental insults, such as pesticides, are linked to this developmental disability. According to the latest study, published in the October issue of Environmental Health Perspectives, children born to mothers living near fields where pesticides are applied are more likely to develop autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). The authors of “Maternal Residence Near Agricultural Pesticide Applications and Autism Spectrum Disorders among Children in the California Central Valley” compared maternal pesticide exposure for 465 children with ASDs and 6,975 children without ASDs living in the same area. The research reveals that mothers who lived within 500 meters of fields sprayed with organochlorine pesticides, specifically endosulfan and dicofol, during their first trimester of pregnancy had a six times higher chance of having children with autism compared to mothers who did not live near the fields. Mark Horton, M.D., director of the California Department of Health, said the findings are exploratory and indicate that more research of the relationship between organochlorines and ASDs is needed. (See Daily News Blog posting from July 31, 2007 for further reactions from health care officials and more details about this […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 8, 2007) In a landmark decision, a California jury on November 5, 2007 awarded $3.3 million to Nicaraguan farmworkers sterilized by pesticides made by Dow Chemical and used at Dole’s banana plantations. The lawsuit accused Dole and Standard Fruit Co., now a part of Dole, of negligence and fraudulent concealment while using the pesticide 1,2-Dibromo-3-Chloropropane (DBCP) to kill rootworms on banana plants. Until 1977, DBCP was used in the United States as a soil fumigant and nematocide on over 40 different crops. From 1977 to 1979, EPA suspended registration for all DBCP-containing products except for use on pineapples in Hawaii. In 1985, EPA issued an intent to cancel all registrations for DBCP, including use on pineapples. Subsequently, the use of existing stocks of DBCP was prohibited. In Nicaragua, DBCP was legal from 1973 until 1993.EPA’s website states the following: Acute (short-term) exposure to DBCP in humans results in moderate depression of the central nervous system (CNS) and pulmonary congestion from inhalation, and gastrointestinal distress and pulmonary edema from oral exposure. Chronic (long-term) exposure to DBCP in humans causes male reproductive effects, such as decreased sperm counts. Testicular effects and decreased sperm counts were observed in animals chronically […]

(Beyond Pesticides, November 6, 2007) Reclaiming Our Healthy Future: Political change to protect the next generation, the 26th National Pesticide Forum, will be held March 14-16, 2008 at the University of California, Berkeley. The conference is convened by Beyond Pesticides, Californians for Pesticide Reform (CPR) and Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA). Session topics include: Children’s health, Farmworker justice, Fair and healthy food, the DDT resurgence, and much more. Check the website for the weekly updates. In addition, veteran stage actress Kaiulani Lee will perform A Sense of Wonder, her one-woman play based on the life and works of Rachel Carson. The play, which is made up of mostly Carson’s own words from letters, journal entries, speeches, not only focuses on Silent Spring, but on aspects of her private life not often examined. Ms. Lee explains, “She [Carson] was very poor…She had nothing. And she changed the course of history.” Registration is $65 for members, $75 for non-members, $175 for business registrants, and $35 for students. Forum registration includes receptions, breakfast and lunch on Saturday and breakfast on Sunday, plus all plenaries, keynotes, workshops and the stage performance of A Sense of Wonder. All food will be organic. Online registration, […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 25, 2007) In a report it releases every six years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) and for the first time considered “the extent to which schools have health-promoting physical school environment policies and programs.” The report’s consideration of environmental health issues suggests a breakthrough in public policy at the federal level. In Part II of the report, in its section on pesticides, the authors cite the work of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Environmental Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on School Health, the Journal of the American Medical Association, and Beyond Pesticides’ report, The Schooling of State Pesticide Laws. In its introduction the report says: The toll that environmental hazards take on children’s health is not completely understood, nor has it been quantified. Nonetheless, environmental exposure to air pollution, lead in paint and drinking water, tobacco smoke, radon, asbestos, and many pesticides and other chemicals in and around school environments is known to be hazardous to children’s health. The report acknowledges and cites the scientific literature on the special vulnerability of children to environmental hazards during developmental stages of life. The […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 18, 2007) Antibacterial soaps show no health benefits over plain soaps and, in fact, may render some common antibiotics less effective, says University of Michigan public health professor Allison Aiello, Ph.D. The study, “Consumer Antibacterial Soaps: Effective or Just Risky?” appears in the August edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. In the first known comprehensive analysis of whether antibacterial soaps containing triclosan work better than plain soaps, Dr. Aiello of the University of Michigan School of Public Health and her team found that washing hands with an antibacterial soap was no more effective in preventing infectious illness than plain soap. Moreover, antibacterial soaps at formulations sold to the public do not remove any more bacteria from the hands during washing than plain soaps. Because of the way triclosan, the main active ingredient in many antibacterial soaps, reacts in the cells, it may cause some bacteria to become resistant to commonly used drugs such as amoxicillin, the researchers say. These changes have not been detected at the population level, but e-coli bacteria bugs adapted in lab experiments showed resistance when exposed to as much as 0.1 percent weight/volume triclosan soap. “What we are saying is that these e-coli could […]

(Beyond Pesticides, October 18, 2007) In a scholarly review written by Theo Colborn, Ph.D. and Lynn Carroll, Ph.D., the authors point to the multigenerational effects of some pesticides that they say demand improved regulation to protect human and environmental health. The review, “Pesticides, Sexual Development, Reproduction, and Fertility: Current Perspective and Future Direction,” appears in the international journal Human and Ecological Risk Assessment (13:5, 1078 — 1110), September, 2007. The study points out a major deficiency in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regulation of pesticides under current health reviews and risk assessments. The authors call EPA’s pesticide registration system “outmoded” and one that has “almost completely missed the low-dose and endocrine system-mediated effects of pesticides.” The study reviews both epidemiological and laboratory data. In the abstract, the authors state the following: Improvements in chemical analytical technology and non-invasive sampling protocols have made it easier to detect pesticides and their metabolites at very low concentrations in human tissues. Monitoring has revealed that pesticides penetrate both maternal and paternal reproductive tissues and organs, thus providing a pathway for initiating harm to their offspring starting before fertilization throughout gestation and lactation. This article explores the literature that addresses the parental pathway of exposure […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 24, 2007) Seven representatives wrote to the EPA last Thursday, urging the government agency to act promptly to identify and screen products for dangerous endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The letter asks EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson to provide definite deadlines in the testing and control of endocrine disruptors, which are substances that interfere with the normal functioning of the endocrine system, responsible for hormonal and developmental processes. EPA’s regulation of these substances that mimic or alter natural hormonal processes has been slow and lacks direction to meet set goals promptly, according to the U.S. Representatives. “To date, EPA’s efforts in this area have been characterized by missed deadlines, prolonged delays, and inadequate incorporation of public input,” according to the letter from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California). Ranking Minority Member on the Committee Tom Davis (R-Virginia); Representatives Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland), Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland), Wayne Gilchrest (R-Maryland), and Jim Moran (D-Virginia); and Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) also signed the letter to EPA. Advocates say that EPA’s lack of urgency on endocrine disruptors leaves the American population and future generations at risk for adverse health effects from exposure to these substances through […]

(Beyond Pesticides, September 18, 2007) On September 16, 2007, researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences presented findings to the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress in Stockholm showing that exposure to several commonly used pesticides increases the risk of asthma in farmers. Pesticide exposure is a “potential risk factor for asthma and respiratory symptoms among farmers,” lead author Dr. Jane A. Hoppin told Reuters Health. “Because grains and animals are more common exposures in agricultural settings, pesticides may be overlooked. Better education and training of farmers and pesticide handlers may help to reduce asthma risk.”The study consisted of 19,704 farmers, 441 of which had asthma. Farmers who have experienced high pesticide exposure were twice as likely to have asthma. Sixteen of the pesticides studied were associated with asthma. Coumaphos, EPTC, lindane, parathion, heptachlor, 2,4,5-TP, DDT, malathion, and phorate had the strongest effect. “This is the first study with sufficient power to evaluate individual pesticides and adult asthma among individuals who routinely apply pesticides,” Dr. Hoppin said. Asthma is a serious chronic disorder of the lungs characterized by recurrent attacks of bronchial constriction, which cause breathlessness, wheezing, and coughing. Asthma is a dangerous, and in some cases life-threatening disease. […]

(Beyond Pesticides, August 28, 2007) In a new study published in the August 2007 issue of the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment and Health (Vol. 33, No. 4), researchers from the Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances (IRET) in Costa Rica find parental exposure to pesticides linked to the increased risk of leukemia. IRET researchers, based at the National University of Costa Rica in Heredia, identified cases of childhood leukemia (N=334), in 1995-2000, on the Cancer Registry and the Children’s Hospital. Population controls (N=579) were drawn from the National Birth Registry. Interviews of parents were conducted using conventional and icon-based calendar forms. An exposure model was constructed for 25 pesticides in five time periods. Mothers’ exposures to any pesticides during the year before conception and during the first and second trimesters are associated with the risk [odds ratio (OR) 2.4, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.0-5.9; OR 2.2, 95% CI 2.8-171.5; OR 4.5, 95% CI 1.4-14.7, respectively] and during anytime (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.0-4.8). An association is found for fathers’ exposures to any pesticides during the second trimester (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.0-2.3). An increased risk with respect to organophosphates is found for mothers during the first […]