RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Chemicals, birth defects and stillbirths in New Brunswick: associations with agricultural activity
JF Canadian Medical Association Journal
JO CMAJ
FD Canadian Medical Association
SP 117
OP 124
VO 138
IS 2
A1 F. M. White
A1 F. G. Cohen
A1 G. Sherman
A1 R. McCurdy
YR 1988
UL http://www.cmaj.ca/content/138/2/117.abstract
AB We describe a series of investigations that were conducted in support of the Task Force on Chemicals in the Environment and Human Reproductive Problems in New Brunswick. Geographic and temporal analyses and case-control studies, with the use of vital statistics, hospital records, the Canadian Congenital Anomalies Surveillance System and chemical databases, revealed no association between pesticides used in forestry and reproductive problems. Evidence of an association between the potential exposure to agricultural chemicals and three major anomalies combined as well as spina bifida without hydrocephalus was found. More plausible was an association between stillbirths and such exposure during the second trimester of pregnancy. This finding, along with the cyclic patterns of stillbirth in the agricultural Saint John River basin and the somewhat higher stillbirth rates in New Brunswick than in adjacent provinces or in Canada as a whole, suggests that further attention should focus on possible associations between agricultural activity and stillbirths.