Methodological considerations in the study of parental occupational exposures and congenital malformations in offspring.

Abstract

SHAW GM, GOLD EB. Methodological considerations in the study of parental occupational exposures and congenital malformation s in offspring. Scand J Work Env iron H ealth 14 (1988) 344-355. The existence of hazardous substances in the workplace has raised concerns about the potential of these substances for adverse reproductive effects. Identification of associations between parental occupational exposures and congenital malformations in the offspring may provide the opportunity for preventing such exposures and thus reduce the risk of malformations. However, there are many methodological considerations inherent in studying the potential relation between parental occupational exposures and congenital malformations in the offspring . Considerations relating to outcome include methods and timing of ascertaining cases with malformations , diagnostic criteria, and problems in grouping malformations for purpo ses of analysis. With regard to measuring exposures, issues include methods for obtaining valid estimates of the nature, duration, timing of exposure, and exposure-response relationship. Other methodological issues discussed include selection of appropriate reference groups, sample size, and multiple hypothesis testing.

Chemical exposure during pregnancy and oral clefts in newborns

“…The two mechanism can induce cell death or dysfunction, resulting in malformation (Shaw & Gold, 1988).…”

“…Shaw et al (1988) studied a total of 215 cases of orofacial clefts among both live births and stillbirths with more than 20 weeks' gestation. With regard to gardening exposure, professional application of pesticides produced an OR of 3.8 (95% CI: 1.5-9.7) for the occurrence of CLP associated with other malformations.…”

Reproductive disorders due to chemical exposure among hairdressers

“…Studies on reproductive disorders among hairdressers are scarce. However, reproductive disorders have been associated with exposure to solvents and other chemicals in various other occupations (5)(6)(7)(8). Therefore, adverse effects of occupational exposure on the reproduction of hairdressers can be expected.…”

Paternal occupational exposure around conception and spina bifida in offspring

“…The present study has several strengths which probably reduce misclassification relative to other studies on paternal occupation and spina bifida [Shaw and Gold, 1988]. We did exposure and interview was unequally distributed in cases nQt use job ^ in ^ study ag & sunogate for occupational and referents.…”