Maternal Occupation in Agriculture and Congenital Malformation of the Nervous System in Offspring: a Population-Based Case-Control Study in Southeast, Brazil

Abstract

Maternal Occupation in Agriculture and Congenital Malformation of the Nervous System in Offspring: a Population-Based Case-Control Study in Southeast, BrazilAbstract Number:1821 Adalberto Miranda Filho*, Rosalina Koifman, Sergio Koifman, and Gina Rego Monteiro Adalberto Miranda Filho* Environmental and Public Health Program, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brazil, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Rosalina Koifman Environmental and Public Health Program, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brazil, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Sergio Koifman Environmental and Public Health Program, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brazil, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , and Gina Rego Monteiro Environmental and Public Health Program, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Brazil, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author AbstractBackground Maternal occupation in agriculture has been associated with congenital malformation of the nervous system, where the exposure to pesticide is the main hypothesis. Brazil is one of the most important consumers of pesticide around the world, nevertheless, researches that evaluate the pesticide impacts in the human health are scarce. Thus, the aim of this study was to estimate the association among maternal occupation in agriculture and congenital malformation of nervous system in offspring. Subject and methods This is a population-based case-control study. Data were obtained by Brazilian’s information system on live births. Cases (n=336) were women with age between 20 and 49 years, living in the southeast region of Brazil, diagnosed with congenital malformation of the nervous system in their offspring in 2011. Controls (n=1348) were women with the same age and residence that were not diagnosed with congenital malformation in their offspring in the same year. The exposure assessment was performed through information of maternal occupation in agriculture. Logistic regression models with an interval of confidence of 95% were estimated and adjusted by age, sex, week of gestation, weight birth and number of children.Results Anencephaly and hydrocephaly were more prevalent in offspring with maternal occupation in agriculture. Newborns whose mothers had agricultural occupation indicated in the system have doubled their chance to have congenital malformation of the nervous system (ORaj: 2.13 95%CI 1.02-4.41). Newborns with low weight birth had five times more chance to have congenital malformation of the nervous system (ORaj: 5.63 95%IC 3.91-8.09).Conclusion Maternal occupation in agriculture showed positive association with congenital malformation of the nervous system in offspring. This study corroborates the hypothesis that environmental exposure, mainly pesticides, could be a relevant risk factor to develop congenital malformation of the nervous system.