title: Paternal and joint parental occupational pesticide exposure and spina bifida in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, 1997 to 2002.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Because of persistent concerns over the association between pesticides and spina bifida, we examined the role of paternal and combined parental occupational pesticide exposures in spina bifida in offspring using data from a large population-based study of birth defects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Occupational information from fathers of 291 spina bifida cases and 2745 unaffected live born control infants with estimated dates of delivery from 1997 to 2002 were collected by means of maternal report. Two expert industrial hygienists estimated exposure intensity and frequency to insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for exposure to any pesticide and to any class of pesticide (yes/no; and by median), and exposure to combinations of pesticides (yes/no) and risk of spina bifida. Adjusted odds ratios were also estimated by parent exposed to pesticides (neither, mother only, father only, both parents).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Joint parental occupational pesticide exposure was positively associated with spina bifida (aOR, 1.5; 95% CI, 0.9-2.4) when compared with infants with neither maternal nor paternal exposures; a similar association was not observed when only one parent was exposed. There was a suggested positive association between combined paternal insecticide and fungicide exposures and spina bifida (aOR, 1.5; 95% CI, 0.8-2.8), however, nearly all other aORs were close to unity.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, there was little evidence paternal occupational pesticide exposure was associated with spina bifida. However, the small numbers make it difficult to precisely evaluate the role of pesticide classes, individually and in combination. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:963-971, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, New York.|Department of Environmental Health Sciences, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, New York.
authors.forename: Stacy M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Pettigrew
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, New York.|Department of Environmental Health Sciences, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, New York.
authors.forename: Erin M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Rensselaer, New York.|Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York.
authors.forename: Alissa R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Van Zutphen
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Carissa M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rocheleau
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Gary M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Romitti
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olshan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Philip J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lupo
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York.
authors.forename: Aida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soim
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Jennifer A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Makelarski
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, New York State Department of Health, Albany, New York.
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Michalski
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology, and Preventative Medicine and Environmental Health, University of Kentucky College of Public Health, Lexington, Kentucky.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Sanderson
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018812:Paternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016135:Spinal Dysraphism / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides
keywords: birth defects; fungicides; herbicides; insecticides; neural tube defects; occupational paternal and parental exposures; pesticides; spina bifida