Effects of Exposure to Organic Solvents on Menstrual Cycle Length

Abstract

To investigate the association between organic solvent exposure and menstrual disturbance, we conducted a cross-sectional study among 1408 petrochemical workers in China. Based on an industrial hygiene evaluation, we classified the workshops according to the presence or absence of organic solvents (benzene, styrene, toluene, or xylene). We used logistic regression to estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for prolonged menstrual cycle length (oligomenorrhea: average cycle length > 35 days during the previous year) associated with the exposure. After adjustment for confounders, each additional year of work in an exposed workshop was associated with a 7% increase in oligomenorrhea (odds ratio, 1.07; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 1.14). Compared with no exposure, 3 or more years of exposure was associated with a 53% increase in oligomenorrhea (odds ratio, 1.53; 95% confidence interval, 1.00 to 2.34). We concluded that exposure to organic solvents is associated with a trend toward increased frequency of oligomenorrhea.

Does air pollution play a role in infertility?: a systematic review

“…They described a higher frequency of women with oligomenorrhea (menstrual cycles exceeding 35 days) in the group exposed to styrene, xylene or all solvents. Furthermore, one additional year of exposure to any solvent significantly increased the odds ratio by 7% (CI95%: 1.00-1.14) and a duration of work greater than 3 years yielded an adjusted odds ratio for oligomenorrhea of 1.53 (95% CI:1.00-2.34) [73]. Therefore, these two studies argue for an exposure duration-response relationship for aromatic solvents.…”

NTP‐CERHR Expert Panel Report on the reproductive and developmental toxicity of styrene

“…Cho et al (2001), supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), NIOSH, and EPA, retrospectively evaluated the prevalence of oligomenorrhea, defined as average cycle length greater than 35 days, among female petrochemical workers in China. Women were recruited from employees in a governmental industrial park and included those women aged 20-40 who were applying for permission to marry or to become pregnant.…”

“…There are three epidemiology studies (Härkö nen and Holmberg, 1982;Lemasters et al, 1985b;Cho et al, 2001) on menstrual cycle parameters in women exposed occupationally to styrene or styrene plus other chemicals. Two other studies (Mutti et al, 1984b;Arfini et al, 1987) evaluated serum prolactin in women with occupational styrene exposures and correlated serum prolactin with urinary measurements of styrene metabolites and two studies (Bergamaschi et al, 1996;Luderer et al, 2004) evaluated the association between styrene exposure and serum prolactin in a mixed, but mostly male, population.…”

“…Styrene exposure was not associated with any menstrual cycle abnormalities (severe dysmenorrhea, intermenstrual bleeding, amenorrhea, and heavy menses), but the study had limited statistical power to detect effects. Cho et al (2001) assessed oligomenorrhea (cycle length 4 35 days) in 1408 Chinese petrochemical workers. Oligomenorrhea occurred in 8.5% of unexposed women compared to 14.5% of styrene-exposed women (adjusted OR 5 1.65, 95% CI 5 1.05-2.55).…”

Menstrual cycle characteristics in European and Inuit women exposed to persistent organochlorine pollutants

“…Several factors have been associated with menstrual cycle disturbances including: age, body mass index (BMI), smoking (Rowland et al, 2002), extreme exercise (Chen and Brzyski, 1999), work stress (Hatch et al, 1999), organic solvents and other chemical compounds (Cho et al, 2001).…”