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Staff writer Kristin Collins can be reached at 829-4881 or kcollins@newsobserver.com.
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Three cases of birth defects
FRANCISCA HERRERA
Child's birth defect: No arms or legs
Pesticide exposure: Was exposed during the period when the baby's limbs formed to chemicals that cause limb defects in lab animals
Other risk factors: None known
Prenatal care: Began in fourth month of pregnancy; denies use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs or medications
Her statement: Herrera told state investigators that she was sprayed with pesticides while working in the fields, that she was never warned about entering fields where pesticides had been sprayed, and that she was not given equipment to protect her from pesticides.
Report's determination: "Data indicates a plausible association between possible pesticide exposure and the limb deficiencies."
SOSTENES SALAZAR
Child's birth defect: Deformed jaw
Pesticide exposure: Worked with 13 pesticides while her baby's jaw was forming
Other risk factors: Father has small jaw; one previous stillbirth
Prenatal care: Began in fifth month of pregnancy; denies use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs or medications
Her statement: Salazar did not claim she was sprayed with pesticides but said she was never given protective equipment and was rarely told when it was safe to re-enter fields after pesticide applications.
Report's determination: "An association between possible pesticide exposures in North Carolina and the jaw and palate abnormalities ... cannot be ruled out; however, there is evidence to suggest familial inheritance."
MARIA DE LA MESA CRUZ
Child's birth defect: Missing nose, no visible sex organs, died after birth
Pesticide exposure: None in North Carolina during the critical early stages of pregnancy; some documented in an earlier Florida study
Other risk factors: None known
Prenatal care: Unknown
Her statement: None taken
Report's determination: "She did apparently work five days in fields in Florida in ... situations when exposure to pesticide residues above levels considered health protective is likely." The birth defects included "some that have been reported in lab animals after pesticide exposure."
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Herrera was exposed to mancozeb during the period when most fetuses develop limbs, the report says.Sostenes Salazar, whose child has a deformed jaw, worked with 13 pesticides during the time her baby's jaw was forming, the report says. Studies link six of the pesticides to birth defects, and one, Penncozeb, has chemicals that have caused jaw deformities in the offspring of lab rats, the report says.But Salazar's husband has a small lower jaw, which also could have contributed to the child's problem, the report says. It concludes that pesticide exposure and heredity might have worked together to cause the problems.In the last case, Maria De La Mesa Cruz, whose child died, did not work in North Carolina during the critical phase of her child's development, the report said. But investigators noted that she did work with chemicals in Florida that have been known to cause similar birth defects in animals.A Florida study, completed by the Collier County Health Department last October, found no link between the women's pesticide exposure in Florida and the birth defects.No study has looked at the women's exposures in both states.More personnelOther state agencies were still wading through the 37-page report Tuesday. But Brian Long, a spokesman for the Agriculture Department, said his department has asked the legislature for three new pesticide enforcement employees this year, at a cost of $194,000.Some worker advocates say the state should go further by pushing to ban certain pesticides that are harmful to workers."You can educate farmworkers all day long, but it's not like they can say to their employers, 'I'm not going in there.' They'll just get fired," said Fawn Pattison, director of the N.C. Agricultural Resources Center, which opposes pesticide use. "The big recommendation that's missing is to stop using stuff that causes birth defects."
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