CHICAGO (AP) — Women exposed to certain solvents on the job are 13 times more likely to give birth to a baby with major defects, a study found.
The researchers also found an increased risk of miscarriages, low birth weight, fetal distress and prematurity.
The study looked at what are called organic solvents, which are used in many industries and trades. The chemicals — found in paints, pesticides, adhesives, lacquers and cleaning agents — have been linked to a host of physical and mental problems in adults.
Problems among women exposed to organic solvents were most often found among those who worked in factories, as laboratory technicians, in graphic design or printing and as chemists, according to the study.
The study was led by Dr. Sohail Khattak of the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and was published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
Dr. Richard Schwarz, obstetrics consultant to the March of Dimes, said the study was too small to draw definite conclusions about the risk of birth defects. He also questioned its methods because the study group was selected from women who had called with concerns about pregnancy.
But he said: ``It's a red-flag kind of study. We shouldn't ignore it. I suggest it requires a further look.''
The researchers looked at 125 pregnant women who had been exposed to organic solvents during their first trimester between 1987 and 1996. They were compared with 125 pregnant women not exposed to solvents.
Of the group exposed to solvents on the job, 113 gave birth, eight suffered miscarriages and four had abortions. There were 13 major birth defects and five minor ones among their babies, vs. one major malformation and one minor one among the women not exposed to solvents.
Nine of the exposed group had premature births, compared with three in the control group. Eight babies in the exposed group were underweight, vs. three in the control group.
Sixteen women who were exposed for more than seven months had labor with fetal distress that required resuscitation, while only one member of the control group did.
Khattak said such chemical exposure is avoidable. ``If proper precautions are taken and the guidelines for proper handling followed, the risk is no greater than that for the general population,'' he said.
Khattak said his was the first study to follow women through their pregnancies rather than look at medical records.
That, he said, explains why its findings were so clear while previous studies on solvents and birth defects have been inconclusive.
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