Document 7OGVk1GvjM7v0jj7ZvrE1ovwB

. . .Look a t 6highly exposedf segment proposed PARC shifts study emphasis By CLAUDE STEUSLOFF pesticide study he outlined Curitol P M HWS hdilor would require $100,000 in fund SALEM, Ore -- 1 he. Pesti ing from the state of Oregon. cide Analytical I tw ir c h Cen He said the CDC is not a fund ter (PAHC) lias rejected a ing Rroup, the U.S. Environ '`retrospective type (>f study" mental Prelection A g e n c y of tile peslicitlo problem in would not contribute, but the coastal counties of Oregon as U.S. Forest Service could have outlined in a report made by some funds. Edmunds esti tiie U.S. ('enter f<"` Disease mated total cost of tiie pro Control, Atlanta, Ga posed study at $192,000. In a change of dircciion, PARC members decided to study a proposal to he made by Oregon .Slate University on the effect of live pesticide 2,4-D ".on highly exposed peoile In Eastern Oregon and . ; die Willamette Vall<y." Tliat proposal Is due at the next meeting of the group, Jan. 30, at which time they will also consider a report of pesticide studies ma le by Dr. James Googin of Uie Univer sity of Oregon Health Sciences Center. Portland. Marla (lillam, F igene, of the Northwest Coal'd'on for Al ternatives to Posticdes, sug gested PAHC study ``the rise Edmunds said birth defects among children born In Ore gon runs lower than the na tional average but two enunlies have defects significantly higher tiian tiie U.S. average. A pilot study by the Allnnta CDC was done in Lincoln, BenIon and Polk counties on use of 2.4-D in primarily forested areas. Based on the Oregon rale of central nervous sys tem birth defects from the Birth Defects Monitoring Pro gram data, it was estimated 204 cases could be located and Interviewed In Western Ore gon. Specifically, tiie study de sign rejected by PARC was and distribution of the \tse of ``A retrospective m a t c h e d chemicals in Oregon.'" case - control study, in - depth The action came after a personal interviews would be morning of technical discus conducted of 284 central ner sion on pesticides by a group vous system cases and 284 of 15 scientists last Thursday normal controls to evaluate a t Ihe Oregon Department of various maternal and paternal Agriculture, under direction of risk factors. With adequate BUI Kosesan. administrator of staff, the work could have been the department plant division completed in nine to 18 and chairman of PARC. * montlis. Warren Weslgarth of the De The report states that a re partment o f Environmental liable, unbiased estimate of Quality, made the original mo exposure to 2,4-D would be tion. He said he did so "alter needed for both cases and con looking at all the data in the trols. Because birth defects CDC report" and with the hope are rare events, it would he something could be going from difficult to obtain enough rases the center before the summer applications of pesticides. Larry Edmunds, epidemiolo gist with the disease control center at Atlanta, said ihe for a study with sufficient statistical power, other than in a retrospective study. Edmunds said the CDC re port is "only an outline of an approach io the problem." During the discussion, he said tiie proposed further study has some advantages but there may be more disadvantage! and there is no need to make a study for the sake of a study. Mike Newton, professor of forest ecology -a t OSU, oon- that tiie CDC pilot study hypd-'" thesis blaming 2,4-D in coastal county birth defect problems is erroneous. He said use of 2.4 P Is national problem and in many farming areas the use is much greater than in the timbered coastal community. He cited widespread roadside weed and brush use of 2,4-D and other herbicides. Newton questioned whether the incidence of coastal de fects is extraordinary and said birth defects iu the region inav be due to oilier causes such as high phosphate levels in soils and excessive rates of mercury and copjier in whter supplies at tiie coast. He said a study of residents in urban areas at the coast -- well removed from timber -- allowed that 17 percent of the population had high residues of 2.4-D in their urine. "A study, if it is positive, would show defects but they would be subject to other vari able causes than herbicides. We don't know what causes de fects. There is only a 50 per cent chance of picking up herbicide e f f e c t s with a study," said Newton. He said there is a 10,000-to-l safety factor in herbicide ap plications. "Drugs, alcohol, etc., show birth defects in users, such confounding fac tors are large and will confuse the study." Newton continued. Gillam said "lots of citizens re angry" about 2,4-D appli cations and warned that "soon er or later you must look at use of herbicides." James Witt, agricultural Ex tension specialist in chemis try, OSU, proposed looking at positive controls for birth de fects due to 2,4-D. Virgil Freed, head of the agricultural chemistry depart ment a t OSU, called for a s t u d y of possible defects among husbands and wives who have used pesticides on family farm s in Morrow and Umatilla counties, for many continuous years. Dr. Stringham, family phy sician in Lincoln County, sug^ gested both fathers and moth ers should be studies for birth defects. The Pesticide Analytical Re search Center consists of rep resentatives from the state de partments o Agriculture, Health Division, Environmen tal Quality, Forestry and Fish & Game, One member from the public at large is appoint ed by the governor. 2 .0 0 7 7