Low birth weight in newborns to women employed in jobs with frequent exposure to organic solvents

Abstract

The effects of occupational exposure to organic solvents in pregnancy on foetal growth are still unclear. Our aim was to study whether live newborns to women employed in paid jobs with frequent exposure had a different risk of being born with low birth weight (LBW), compared to those of women in jobs without such exposure. The study population was all singleton newborns delivered in the industrial township of Mončegorsk (N = 26,415). Information about occupation and characteristics of the mothers and babies was obtained from the local population-based birth register, and registered job function was used to classify exposure. We observed an elevated risk of LBW among live, singleton newborns in the exposed group (adjusted odds ratio: 1.68 [95% CI: 1.18–2.41]), which predominantly consisted of painters. The adjusted odds of LBW in the exposed group were also higher among term-born neonates. In addition, a lower mean birth weight was observed among the exposed.

Keywords:

• organic solvent
• painter
• low birth weight
• occupational exposure

Acknowledgements

We thank the Kola Research Laboratory for Occupational Health for making the birth register available for this study. The incurred costs of travel to Russia for this study was financed by Borregaard Forskningsfond, Norway.

Notes

1. Plasterers, hairdressers, manicurists, pedicurists, decorators, electricians, farmers, dry cleaners and cleaners; petroleum, shoe factory and laboratory workers.