Radio interview covers tough topic.

Posted by Negin P. Martin, Ph. D at Apr 22, 2009 11:05 AM |

Reporter tackles a difficult subject—birth defects and time of conception—but omits some study details.

A radio interview by Steve Curwood of Living on Earth that aired April 17th brings to light new findings about the link between herbicide levels and birth defects. The findings were reported by Dr. Paul Winchester – a neonatologist at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis.

According to Dr. Winchester, “birth defects like spina bifida, cleft pallet and lip, down syndrome, urogenital abnormalities, club foot among others are some of the birth defects that are more likely to occur for women who conceive between April and July. That time period coincides quite well with the time period when surface waters measured across the U.S. are having significantly more pesticides in their concentration than any other times of year.”
Mr. Curwood does a great job of using his limited on-air time to unravel the story. He asks short and direct questions. The interview covers Dr. Winchester’s findings as well as similar studies by Dr. Michael Skinner and colleagues, who have shown that rats exposed to pesticides have late onset of disease and disorders that are passed to future generations.
Unfortunately, the short time allocated for the interview did not allow for more discussion of the study's details, such as the number of patients examined and future studies. And, these details cannot be easily tracked down because the website failed to include a link to the published study. 
The extent of health hazards associated with continuous use of pesticides and herbicide is a growing field of knowledge. Dr. Winchester’s study is a valued contribution to this field and merits the coverage.