A new report on the possible relationship of common solvents to birth defects is vital information for pregnant women - see Reuters Health report
(Reuters Health) - Pregnant women with frequent exposure
to solvents at work may be at higher risk of having babies with birth defects,
French researchers have found.
Both self-reported exposure and urine samples supported
the link between the chemicals and newborn malformations such as cleft palate
and limb deformities, they report in the journal Epidemiology.
Specifically, urine breakdown products pointed to
bleach-containing solvents and glycol ethers - a group of solvents common in
paints, cleaning products and cosmetics - as potential culprits.
Concentrated fumes from both types of chemicals are toxic
to humans, and glycol ethers in particular cause birth defects and
developmental problems in animals.
A U.S. study published earlier this year also found a link
between occupational exposure to solvents during pregnancy and several kinds of
congenital heart defects.
Still, the new research is not ironclad proof the
substances are to blame, and earlier research findings have been mixed. What's
more, the overall risk is not huge, with less than three percent of the more
than 3,000 pregnant women in the study giving birth to children with
deformities.
Based on questionnaires filled out by the pregnant women,
45 percent of those whose babies had major malformations reported
"regular" exposure to solvents at work. These women were typically
nurses, chemists, cleaners, hairdressers or beauticians.
By contrast, of the women who had babies without birth
defects, only 28 percent had been in regular contact with solvents at work.
The researchers, led by Sylvaine Cordier of the National
Institute of Health and Medical Research in Rennes, France, said earlier
studies had not looked at urine samples.
While that part of their research is limited by low
detection rates and the study's size - one in five women had urine tests - it
bolstered women's self-reported solvent exposure with objective evidence.
"These results identify work situations that require
further investigation," Cordier and colleagues conclude.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/SqkmkC Epidemiology, September 21,
2012.
