Pregnancy complications in Bhopal women exposed to methyl isocyanate vapor

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Abstract
This study was done to determine the effects of the methyl isocyanate (MIC) spill from the Union Carbide pesticide plant at Bhopal on December 3, 1984 on the course of pregnancy. For this purpose, 2622 households within a radius of 1 km from the plant were surveyed in August 1986, and the health status of 200 children prenatally exposed to MIC was surveyed again in July 1990. A total of 638 women in 2622 households stated that they were pregnant at the time of the accident; 315 (49.4%) of these pregnancies did not culminate in live births. Pregnancy loss was higher in women who were in their first (58.8%) than in those who were in their second (42.1%) or third (40.1%) trimester of pregnancy during the MIC spill. Out of 323 live births, 12.1% (n=39) died between 1 and 30 days after birth and an additional 8 died between 1 and 18 months of age; the 1–30‐day mortality rate was significantly greater than that recorded for the two years preceding the accident (27% in 1984 and 3% in 1983). Of the 273 surviving children born to MIC‐exposed women, the status of 200 could be determined in 1990; 20 of these 200 had died before reaching the age of five years. According to their mothers, 122 out of 273 and 108 out of 200 children were sick in 1986 and 1990, respectively. The female‐to‐male ratio was 1.07 at birth but 1.8 in children who died. It is suggested that exposure to MIC resulted in a significantly higher pregnancy loss and neonatal mortality.