Endocrine Disruptors in the Workplace, Hair Spray, Folate Supplementation, and Risk of Hypospadias: Case–Control Study

Abstract

BackgroundHypospadias is one of the most common urogenital congenital anomalies affecting baby boys. Prevalence estimates in Europe range from 4 to 24 per 10,000 births, depending on definition, with higher rates reported from the United States. Relatively little is known about potential risk factors, but a role for endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has been proposed.ObjectiveOur goal was to elucidate the risk of hypospadias associated with occupational exposure of the mother to endocrine-disruptor chemicals, use of folate supplementation during pregnancy, and vegetarianism.DesignWe designed a case–control study of 471 hypospadias cases referred to surgeons and 490 randomly selected birth controls, born 1 January 1997–30 September 1998 in southeast England. Telephone interviews of mothers elicited information on folate supplementation during pregnancy and vegetarianism. We used a job exposure matrix to classify occupational exposure.ResultsIn multiple logistic regression analysis, there were increased risks for self-reported occupational exposure to hair spray [exposed vs. nonexposed, odds ratio (OR) = 2.39; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.40–4.17] and phthalate exposure obtained by a job exposure matrix (OR = 3.12; 95% CI, 1.04–11.46). There was a significantly reduced risk of hypospadias associated with of folate use during the first 3 months of pregnancy (OR = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.44–0.93). Vegetarianism was not associated with hypospadias risk.ConclusionsExcess risks of hypospadias associated with occupational exposures to phthalates and hair spray suggest that antiandrogenic EDCs may play a role in hypospadias. Folate supplementation in early pregnancy may be protective.

‘Read this and be safe!’ Comparison of regulatory processes for communicating risks of personal care products to European and South African consumers

“…Even some natural substances added to these products can be sensitizers or irritants (e.g., fragrances; [9]). Some examples of health effects associated with common ingredients used in PCPs are endocrine disruption [10][11][12][13], allergies [9,[14][15][16][17][18][19], associations with asthma [10] and birth defects [20]. Although, not all consumers develop obvious negative effects when using PCPs and benefit from these products, some persons suffer considerable health problems from the hazardous ingredients in PCPs.…”

Domestic use of cleaning sprays and asthma activity in females

“…Peak concentrations of 2-buthoxyethanol (major ingredient of their selected sprayed products) may approach occupational exposure limits and remain in the air after completion of the cleaning task [24]. The deleterious effect of products in spray form such as waterproofing sprays [25], pesticide/insecticide sprays [26,27] or hair sprays [28] has been established for several diseases.…”

Hypospadias: Interactions between environment and genetics

“…Moreover, the critical level of exposure to EDCs was not assessed in any of the epidemiological studies implicating the environment [67] [125]. No relationship was identified between polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) [127] or polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure [128] and hypospadias.…”