The effects of work-related maternal risk factors on time to pregnancy, preterm birth and birth weight: the Generation R Study

Abstract

The effects of work-related maternal risk factors on time to pregnancy, preterm birth and birth weight: the Generation R Study Burdorf, A.; Brand, T.; Jaddoe, V.W.; Hofman, A.; Mackenbach, J.P.; Steegers, E.A.P. General rightsIt is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulationsIf you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: http://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. Download date: 25 Mar 2019The effects of work-related maternal risk factors on time to pregnancy, preterm birth and birth weight: the Generation R Study Associations between maternal occupational exposure and fertility and pregnancy outcomes, adjusted for age, education, minority, parity, smoking and alcohol use, were studied using logistic regression analysis.Results Women in jobs with regular handling of loads $5 kg had better fertility and pregnancy outcomes. No self-reported exposure to chemicals was associated with any outcomes and self-assessments had very low reliability compared with JEM-based assessments. JEMbased maternal occupational exposure to phthalates was associated with prolonged TTP (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.02 to 4.57) and exposure to pesticides was associated with decreased birth weight (OR 2.42, 95% CI 1.10 to 5.34). The population attributable fractions were small at 0.7% for phthalates and 0.7% for pesticides. Conclusion This birth cohort study presents evidence of health-based selection into the workforce and adverse effects of maternal occupational exposure to phthalates and pesticides on fertility and pregnancy outcomes.

To Compare the Effects of Maternal Occupational Activities on Birth Weight: A Cross Sectional Study

“…Several reproductive hazards associated with some types of work are well established -for example, from athletes and pesticides at work (1,2). However, there is less certain evidence regarding work load hazards that affect pregnant women.…”

Female Infertility and “Emerging” Organic Pollutants of Concern

“…This retrospective investigation recruited 8880 pregnant women residing in Rotterdam (Netherlands) and with delivery dates from 2002-2006 [84]. Overall 61 % of eligible women enrolled, tending to be older, more educated, and nonminority relative to non-enrollees.…”

“…An additional concern comes from the use of serum biomarkers to determine primary phthalate monoesters and BPA, which was criticized due to a possibility for extraneous introduction of parent compounds into the specimen during collection, with subsequent in situ metabolism by endogenous hydrolases, and so urine preferred [91]. 84,85]. Results were almost uniformly null, although study participants tended to be wealthier and more highly educated than the general population, and exposure levels for contemporary samples tended to be lower, potentially limiting extrapolation to poorer, less educated groups.…”

Are there too many “times-to-pregnancy”?

“…In a world where pregnancies can be planned for those who have access to safe contraception methods, couples may know their "time-to-pregnancy" (TTP) as the waiting time from when they stopped using contraceptive methods until becoming pregnant or being classified as infertile (a period of ≥12 months). This TTP measure was first used in 1981 (1) as a measure of couple fecundity and it has been applied widely with success and failure in many areas of research including work-related fecundity problems (2,3,4). In this letter, some less well-known limitations of the TTP measure are discussed.…”