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Spontaneous abortions among women employed in the plastics industry
Author(s) -
Lindbohm MarjaLiisa,
Hemminki Kari,
Kyyrönen Pentti
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american journal of industrial medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1097-0274
pISSN - 0271-3586
DOI - 10.1002/ajim.4700080609
Subject(s) - medicine , occupational medicine , occupational exposure , odds ratio , plastics industry , vinyl chloride , abortion , environmental health , toxicology , pregnancy , composite material , polymer , materials science , biology , copolymer , genetics
A matched case‐control study was done to analyze whether certain occupational exposures in the plastics industry were related to the risk of spontaneous abortions. Information on spontaneous abortions (cases) and births (controls) was obtained from the hospital discharge register; data on occupational exposures were obtained from the occupational health services of the workplaces. No increased risk of spontaneous abortions was observed among workers processing polymerized plastics or heated plastics made of vinyl chloride or of styrene. Owing to the low statistical power of the study, only strong effects can be ruled out. The odds ratio for workers actually processing polyurethane was increased (1.9, not statistically significant), and that for all workers in polyurethane‐processing factories was significantly increased (3.0, p = 0.02). The finding needs to be investigated further in future studies.