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The Great Falls Tribune, MT Thursday, July 10, 2003 Research finds counties that grow lots of wheat have more birth defects By RICHARD ECKE Tribune Staff Writer Twice as many baby boys died from birth defects in heavy wheat-producing areas than in Midwest locations with little wheat, according to a federal study released Wednesday. The study said herbicides sprayed on crops may be to blame. Selected counties in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota were examined in the Environmental Protection Agency study by Dr. Dina Schreinemachers, published in the July issue of Environmental Health Perspectives. Schreinemachers, who works in the agency's Epidemiology and Biomarkers Branch, looked at 43,500 births in the four states from 1995 to 1997 and found a 50 percent increase in birth defects in counties with high numbers of acres devoted to growing wheat, compared with counties that had few acres set aside for wheat. Defects included problems with infants' breathing and circulatory systems, as well as muscle and bone abnormalities. The researcher also found a death rate among boys that was twice that found in the low-wheat counties. Girls were not affected. Chlorophenoxy herbicides are widely used in this country and western Europe to control broadleaf weeds in grain farming and parks, according to a study summary. In the four wheat-producing states, more than 85 percent of the wheat acreage is treated with herbicides such as 2,4-D and 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid, or MCPA, the study said. Not only were birth defects higher in the high-wheat areas, but respiratory and circulatory defects were even more pronounced among infants conceived between April and June, when the herbicides are sprayed, the study said. Schreinemachers concluded a possible association between herbicide spraying and the high rate of birth defects. "I think it's very plausible," said Montana Medical Officer Mike Spence of Helena Wednesday. "You bet your boots." The study raised a red flag about herbicides but does not prove spraying caused the birth defects. An EPA news release noted more studies would be needed to pin down a culprit. Spence agreed that while the analysis may implicate herbicides, other factors might also come into play. He offered a hypothetical example -- perhaps the counties studied might have a higher population of an ethnic group such as Scandinavians, who might be more genetically susceptible to herbicide spraying. "Genetics loads the gun, and environment pulls the trigger," he commented. While more research is needed, Spence said he would not be surprised if chemical spraying did cause more birth defects. "There's a correlation between farm workers (who handle chemicals) and Parkinson's disease," Spence said. Spence said Montana is a more difficult place to study birth defects by itself because the state only sees 10,000 or so births each year, a small number compared with more populous states. On the Internet Birth Malformations and Other Adverse Perinatal Outcomes in Four U.S. Wheat-Producing States Dina M. Schreinemachers http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/5830/abstract.html SOURCE: The Great Falls Tribune, MT http://www.greatfallstribune.com/news/stories/20030710/localnews/540988.html * * * Reference: Environmental Health Perspectives Volume 111, Number 9, July 2003 http://ehpnet1.niehs.nih.gov/docs/2003/111-9/toc.html Draft Report on the Environment Technical Document http://www.epa.gov/indicators/roe/html/tsd/index.htm http://www.epa.gov/indicators/roe/html/roeTOC.htm http://www.epa.gov/indicators/roe/html/tsd/tsdHealth.htm#41 * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn