Maternal occupational exposure to ionizing radiation and birth defects

Abstract

So far, only a few studies investigated occupational exposure to ionizing radiation in pregnancy to cause birth defects (BDs). No association between BDs and ionizing radiation, although described for high-dose exposure, could ever be confirmed for employees, or specific job titles. Here, an explorative analysis of a prospective population-based birth cohort used to quantify the prevalence of BDs in infants between 1/2007 and 2/2008 is presented. An active examination of all livebirths by specially trained paediatricians in two defined areas was performed. Additionally, a study-specific questionnaire distributed among all becoming mothers in the surveyed regions included questions on maternal occupational exposure to ionizing radiation within the first trimester of pregnancy. In 3,816 births (including 165 infants with BDs; 4.3%), maternal answers concerning possible exposures to medical and occupational ionizing radiation were available. Relative risk (RR) estimates in mothers surveyed for occupational exposure to ionizing radiation (wearing a radiation dosimeter) and BDs in the offspring were calculated exploratively. A higher prevalence of infants with BDs (n = 4; 13.8%) was documented in newborns of the 29 surveyed mothers compared to that in 3,787 births from unexposed mothers (n = 161; 4.3%), corresponding to a RR of 3.2 (1.2-8.7). Excluding deformations, the RR increased to 4.0 (1.5-10.7). Adjustment for possible confounders did not change the results substantially.

Maternal occupational exposure to ionizing radiation and major structural birth defects

“…In contrast, we assessed maternal exposure based on mother's descriptions of their occupations, workplaces and job activities and included 442 case mothers and 186 control mothers with potential occupational exposure to IR. Thus, compared with Wiesel et al (), our study has a much larger sample size and less precise measurements of exposure, and we observed no association between potential maternal occupational exposure to IR and all NBDPS birth defects in aggregate (AOR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.74–1.05).…”

“…A population‐based study of the association between occupational exposure to IR and birth defects was recently conducted in Germany (Wiesel et al, ). Based on a prospective follow‐up of 3816 pregnancies, Wiesel et al () observed that mothers who reported wearing a dosimeter during early pregnancy were 3.2 times more likely to have an infant affected by any type of birth defect (AOR, 3.2; 95% CI, 1.2–8.7) compared with mothers without occupational exposures to IR. However, only 29 women in their study reported wearing a dosimeter and of these only 4 had an infant with a birth defect (ventricular septal defect, hydronephrosis, ectopic kidney, and microtia/auricular artesian).…”

“…In order to compare our findings with the previous German study of occupational exposures (Wiesel et al, ), we calculated ORs for the effect of any potential occupational exposure to IR and all study birth defects in aggregate. Then, we stratified the ORs for potential occupational exposure to IR and all birth defects in aggregate according to the nine different sources of exposure to IR described above.…”

“…To date, there are two population‐based studies of occupational exposure to IR and all birth defects. A cohort study conducted in Germany, included 3816 pregnancies and only assessed birth defects in aggregate (Wiesel et al, ). The other study is the Baltimore‐Washington Infant Study which assessed the association between maternal occupational exposure to IR and congenital cardiac defects including 4390 cases of congenital cardiac defects and 3572 controls (Ferencz et al, ).…”

Residential radon and birth defects: A population‐based assessment

“…Brent 1999; Cech et al 2007; Dekaban 1968; Feschchenko et al 2002; Green et al 2002; Plummer, 1952; Wiesel et al 2011). Defect categories with significant associations in multiple papers (not always consistently) included chromosomal defects such as Down syndrome, central nervous system / eye, oral clefts, skeletal defects, and heart defects.…”