Water and Pregnancy

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana School of Medicine researcher reported May 7 that pesticides and nitrates in surface water contribute to both premature births in the United States and reduced child intellectual development.

According to Paul Winchester, M.D., professor of clinical pediatrics at the Indiana School of Medicine, who presented his research at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Toronto, the growing premature birth rate in the United States appears to be strongly associated with the increased use of pesticides and nitrates. His research found that premature birth rates peaked when pesticide and nitrate measurements in surface water were highest, from April to July, and were lowest when nitrates and pesticides were lowest.

Winchester, director of Newborn Intensive Care Services at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis, also reported that student research subjects who were conceived during the summer months when pesticides and nitrates levels are highest in surface waters scored lower on statewide standardized tests than classmates who were conceived during other times of the year.

For the past four years, Winchester and colleagues have focused attention on the outcomes of pregnancy in Indiana and the United States in relation to environmental pesticides and nitrates in surface and drinking water.

Ian: Are we any different here? I shudder when I see a poor mum-to-be lining up with her cheap packaged food purchases.