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Nurses' miscarriages linked to chemicals at work

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK | Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:20pm EST

Reuters Health - Nurses who worked with chemotherapy drugs or sterilizing chemicals were twice as likely to have a miscarriage as their colleagues who didn't handle these materials, in a new study. Link to Reuters article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-nurses-miscarriages-idUSTRE80C1N720120113

Occupational exposures among nurses and risk of spontaneous abortion

Lawson CC, Rocheleau CM, Whelan EA, et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2012;206:x-ex-x-ex.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002937811024707

Objective
We investigated self-reported occupational exposure to antineoplastic drugs, anesthetic gases, antiviral drugs, sterilizing agents (disinfectants), and X-rays and the risk of spontaneous abortion in US nurses.

Study Design
Pregnancy outcome and occupational exposures were collected retrospectively from 8461 participants of the Nurses' Health Study II. Of these, 7482 were eligible for analysis using logistic regression.

Results
Participants reported 6707 live births, and 775 (10%) spontaneous abortions (<20 weeks). After adjusting for age, parity, shift work, and hours worked, antineoplastic drug exposure was associated with a 2-fold increased risk of spontaneous abortion, particularly with early spontaneous abortion before the 12th week, and 3.5-fold increased risk among nulliparous women. Exposure to sterilizing agents was associated with a 2-fold increased risk of late spontaneous abortion (12-20 weeks), but not with early spontaneous abortion.

Conclusion
This study suggests that certain occupational exposures common to nurses are related to risks of spontaneous abortion.