Hypospadias and Maternal Exposure to Atrazine via Drinking Water in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Citation

Winston, Jennifer Jane; Emch, Michael E.; Meyer, Robert E.; Langlois, Peter H.; Weyer, Peter J.; Mosley, Bridget S.; Olshan, Andrew F.; Band, Lawrence E.; Luben, Thomas J.; & the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, (2016). Hypospadias and Maternal Exposure to Atrazine via Drinking Water in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Environmental Health, 15, 76. PMCID: PMC4946150

Abstract

Background: Hypospadias is a relatively common birth defect affecting the male urinary tract. It has been suggested that exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals might increase the risk of hypospadias by interrupting normal urethral development.
Methods: Using data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, a population-based case-control study, we considered the role of maternal exposure to atrazine, a widely used herbicide and potential endocrine disruptor, via drinking water in the etiology of 2nd and 3rd degree hypospadias. We used data on 343 hypospadias cases and 1,422 male controls in North Carolina, Arkansas, Iowa, and Texas from 1998–2005. Using catchment level stream and groundwater contaminant models from the US Geological Survey, we estimated atrazine concentrations in public water supplies and in private wells. We assigned case and control mothers to public water supplies based on geocoded maternal address during the critical window of exposure for hypospadias (i.e., gestational weeks 6–16). Using maternal questionnaire data about water consumption and drinking water, we estimated a surrogate for total maternal consumption of atrazine via drinking water. We then included additional maternal covariates, including age, race/ethnicity, parity, and plurality, in logistic regression analyses to consider an association between atrazine and hypospadias.
Results: When controlling for maternal characteristics, any association between hypospadias and daily maternal atrazine exposure during the critical window of genitourinary development was found to be weak or null (odds ratio for atrazine in drinking water = 1. 00, 95 % CI = 0.97 to 1.03 per 0.04

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12940-016-0161-9

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2016

Journal Title

Environmental Health

Author(s)

Winston, Jennifer Jane
Emch, Michael E.
Meyer, Robert E.
Langlois, Peter H.
Weyer, Peter J.
Mosley, Bridget S.
Olshan, Andrew F.
Band, Lawrence E.
Luben, Thomas J.
the National Birth Defects Prevention Study,

PMCID

PMC4946150

ORCiD

Olshan - 0000-0001-9115-5128
Emch - 0000-0003-2642-965X