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Duke University Medical Center
VOLUME 24, NUMBER 1
JANUARY 7,1977
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Scientist Studies Pesticides, Nerve Damage
By David Williamson
A pharmacologist here has
received a $106,000 contract from the
Environmental Protection Agency to
continue his studies of a group of
organophosphate pesticides.
One of the compounds he is
studying, leptophos, has recently
been implicated in an outbreak of
nerve disorders among workers at a
Texas chemical factory.
Dr. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia,
assistant professor in the
Department of Physiology and
Pharmacology, said he is trying to
determine which and to what extent
organophosphates now on the
market are health hazards.
Delayed Neurotoxic Syndrome
He said he is also trying to
establish standardized experimental
procedures for the study of delayed
neurotoxic syndrome, a condition
brought about by certain
organopho-sphates and often
misdiagnosed by physicians as
multiple sclerosis or encephalitis.
Investigators for the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health (NIOSH) are investigating
the possibility that leptophos is
responsible for partial paralysis,
muscular coordination problems,
blurred vision, choking sensations
and dizziness among some
employees at the Velsicol Chemical
Corp.'s Bayport, Tex., plant.
“The problem with leptophos and
at least one other organophosphate
still being sold is that they can
produce this delayed neurotoxicity
in man and certain animals,”
Abou-Donia said. Symptoms usually
develop seven to 14 days after heavy
exposure to the compounds, but they
may not show up for months after
contact, he added.
Most Dangerous Effect
“The most dangerous and
irreversible effect of the chemicals is
that they degenerate the protective
myelin sheath surrounding nerves
and attack the axon which carries
impulses away from the nerve cell
body," he said.
The other insecticides
Abou-Donia is testing are EPN, DEF
and merphos. EPN, he said, is almost
twice as damaging to nerves as
leptophos, according to recent
experiments. It is currently licensed
for use on food crops in the United
States.
The University of California Ph.D.
said he was among a team of
investigators who concluded in 1971
that leptophos was probably
responsible for the paralysis and
deaths of more than 1,200 water
buffaloes in an area sprayed with the
insecticide in Egypt's Nile delta.
Personal Warning
He said he published a report of
his later experiments on the delayed
neurotoxicity of the organo
phosphate in January of 1974 and
personally warned its manufacturers
of dangers to workers three months
later in Chicago.
Velsicol has announced it
discontinued producing the
insecticide early this year.
"I'm concerned that the United
States government will not allow
chemical companies to sell their
insecticides within this country until
they have been proven safe, but
(Contitiued on page 4)
LOOK WHAT SAN
TA LEFT IN THE
FULL-TERM
NURSERY — On
Christmas morning
all the babies in the
nursery were taken
to their mothers'
rooms in Christmas
stockings. The staff
made and decorat
ed the stockings at
the home of head
nurse Mayme
Hampton. That
seemed to suit Brian
Wayne Williams,
born Christmas Day
to Mrs. Cynthia
Williams. (Photo by
John Becton)
IN THE LABORATORY—Dr. Mohamed B. Abou-Donia, assistant prolessor (ji
pharmacology, is studying a group of organophosphate pesticides to determine it
chemicals now on the market damage nerves. Included among the pesticides is
leptophos, currently suspected of causing paralysis among some employees at a
Texas chemical factory and farm workers in Egypt. (Photo by David Williamson)
Dr. F. Bayard Carter Dies;
Founded Dept, of Ob-Gyn
Dr. F. Bayard Carter, who founded
the medical center's Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1931
and helped to make childbirth a safer
undertaking for millions of women,
died here on Wednesday, Dec. 22.
He was 77.
Dr. Carter stepped down as
chairman of Ob-Gyn in 1964 and
retired as professor in 1969. Since
that time, he had maintained a
private practice in Durham.
He was admitted to the hospital on
Wednesday, Dec. 15, after suffering a
heart attack while driving home from
work.
Surviving are his daughter, Mrs.
Ann Hamilton Wears of Boston,
Mass.; his grandson, Peter Bayard
Wears of Durham; his
granddaughter. Miss Jeanette
Hamilton Wears, also of Durham;
and a sister-in-law, Mrs. J. Phillip
Lane of Boston.
A memorial service for the surgeon
was held on Monday, Dec. 27, in the
Duke Chapel. In lieu of flowers, his
family asked that contributions be
made to the F. Bayard Carter
Endowed Professorship Fund, Duke
University.
Educational Background
Born on Jan. 20, 1899, in
Wilmington, Del., Dr. Carter
attended public schools and earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree from the
University of Delaware in 1920. After
winning a Rhodes scholarship, he
attended the Honour School of
DR. F. BAYARD CARTER
Physiology at Oxford University's
Balliol College, receiving both B.A.
and M.A. degrees.
He completed his M.D. at Johns
Hopkins University Medical School
in 1925 and served residencies in
internal medicine and
obstetrics-gynecology at Yale
University.
After two years as professor and
acting chairman of Ob-Gyn at the
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