On July 30, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) will begin testing children in Ohio who were exposed to indoor application of the pesticide methyl parathion in 1994. The planning for this study started in 1996 after similar illegal spraying was discovered in Mississippi.
The study will look at the lasting effects of methyl parathion exposure on children. For the study, ATSDR plans to test children in two states–Ohio and Mississippi. The agency recently completed testing of children in Mississippi.
Methyl parathion is a man-made pesticide used to control insects on non-food farm crops, especially cotton. It is for use only in open fields, and breaks down rapidly in sunlight. As a restricted-use pesticide, methyl parathion can only legally be used by people trained to mix, load, and spray it. When used indoors to kill roaches and other indoor insects, methyl parathion can cause serious health problems in people and their pets by affecting the central nervous system.
Exposure to high levels for a short time may cause loss of consciousness, dizziness, confusion, headaches, difficulty breathing, chest tightness, blurred vision, sweating, and even death. Changes in mental state may last several months after exposure to high levels has ended. Children are especially at risk from exposure to methyl parathion.
Health investigators discovered the problem in Ohio in 1994, where the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decontaminated 232 homes in Loraine County. It is estimated that as many as 10,000 children were exposed to methyl parathion nationwide.
In April 1999, ATSDR contacted families in Loraine County to locate children to participate in the study. The study will include children who were exposed to methyl parathion, as well as children who were not exposed. The children who were not exposed will serve as a comparison group.
The testing will be conducted in Elyria, Ohio. The study will have each child complete a set of tests to determine if they have any adverse neurobehavioral effects from their exposure to methyl parathion.
"The tests will be like playing educational games," said Dr. Rubina Imtiaz, the ATSDR scientist who is leading the study. "We will be testing the child's social behavior, learning abilities, memory, dexterity in tasks involving eye-hand coordination, speech, and vision."
The tests will not involve any painful or invasive procedures.
Once testing is completed, parents will receive written notice of their child's results, as well as an interpretation of those results. A report of the results of the entire study will be released when the study is completed in approximately three years.
ATSDR already has developed a list of all study participants, and most families on the list have been contacted. New volunteers will not be included at this stage; however, the already selected children and their families need to participate to make the study results meaningful. "Every participant is a surrogate for the thousands of exposed children, all of whom cannot be tested," Imtiaz said.
For more information about the testing, contact Dr. Rubina Imtiaz, ATSDR Division of Health Studies, at 1-888-42-ATSDR (1-888-422-8737). Additional information about the health effects related to methyl parathion is available under "ToxFAQs" on the ATSDR Web site at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts48.html. Information about a National Alert issued by ATSDR and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency warning the public about the illegal methyl parathion use is also available on the Web site under the "Alerts" section.
ATSDR is a federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services. It is responsible for preventing or reducing the harmful effects of exposure to hazardous substances on human health and quality of life.