tlanta, Georgia) — A new study has identified a link between maternal workplace exposure to organic solvents and certain congenital heart defects [1]. Dr Suzanne M Gilboa of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta, GA) and colleagues report their findings in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
The results from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS) provide a greater level of detail than was previously available in the literature, by suggesting associations between specific solvent classes and congenital heart disease subtypes, say Gilboa et al.
The NBDPS is an ongoing, multisite, population-based, case-control study exploring both genetic and nongenetic risk factors for birth defects. In this new analysis, researchers compared mothers of infants born with a simple isolated congenital heart defect (15 categories) from 1997 through 2002 with those of healthy control infants born during the same period. They looked to see if there was any association between heart defects and maternal exposure to occupational solvents just prior to conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Two methods to assess occupational solvent exposure were employed: an expert consensus-based approach and literature-based approach. Substances investigated included chlorinated solvents, aromatic solvents, and a mixture of C10 or higher hydrocarbons, known as Stoddard solvent.
In total, 2951 control and 2047 case mothers were included. Using the consensus-based approach, associations were observed for exposure to any solvent and any chlorinated solvent with perimembranous ventricular septal defects (OR 1.6 and 1.7, respectively). Using the literature-based approach, associations were observed for any solvent exposure with aortic stenosis (OR 2.1) and Stoddard solvent exposure with d-transposition of the great arteries (OR 2.0), right ventricular outflow tract obstruction defects (OR 1.9), and pulmonary valve stenosis (OR 2.1).
"Our results indicate that maternal occupational exposure during the period of one month before conception through the first trimester of pregnancy is a potential risk factor for some specific congenital heart disease phenotypes. Some of these findings were consistent with those previously reported in the literature, and other findings were new, yet all warrant corroboration in other study populations," say Gilboa and colleagues.
They add that the exact biological mechanism whereby maternal exposure to organic solvents could result in congenital heart defects is unknown. "Despite the strengths of this analysis, the results do not allow for the drawing of definitive conclusions on specific exposure–congenital-heart-disease combinations. These results should be interpreted with caution in light of the potential for misclassification in both exposure assessment methods," they conclude.
Poster Comment:
So the Taliban had it right. Women's place is in the (solvent-free) home, at least while they're having children.