TY - JOUR
T1 - Maternal occupational exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and congenital heart defects among offspring in the national birth defects prevention study
AU - Lupo, Philip J.
AU - Symanski, Elaine
AU - Langlois, Peter H.
AU - Lawson, Christina C.
AU - Malik, Sadia
AU - Gilboa, Suzanne M.
AU - Lee, Laura J.
AU - Agopian, A. J.
AU - Desrosiers, Tania A.
AU - Waters, Martha A.
AU - Romitti, Paul A.
AU - Correa, Adolfo
AU - Shaw, Gary M.
AU - Mitchell, Laura E.
PY - 2012/11
Y1 - 2012/11
N2 - BACKGROUND:There is evidence in experimental model systems that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) results in congenital heart defects (CHDs); however, to our knowledge, this relationship has not been examined in humans. Therefore, we conducted a case-control study assessing the association between estimated maternal occupational exposure to PAHs and CHDs in offspring. METHODS:Data on CHD cases and control infants were obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study for the period of 1997 to 2002. Exposure to PAHs was assigned by industrial hygienist consensus, based on self-reported maternal occupational histories from 1 month before conception through the third month of pregnancy. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between maternal occupational PAH exposure and specific CHD phenotypic subtypes among offspring. RESULTS:The prevalence of occupational PAH exposure was 4.0% in CHD case mothers (76/1907) and 3.6% in control mothers (104/2853). After adjusting for maternal age, race or ethnicity, education, smoking, folic acid supplementation, and study center, exposure was not associated with conotruncal defects (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-1.67), septal defects (AOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.86-1.90), or with any isolated CHD subtype. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings do not support an association between potential maternal occupational exposure to PAHs and various CHDs in a large, population-based study. For CHD phenotypic subtypes in which modest nonsignificant associations were observed, future investigations could be improved by studying populations with a higher prevalence of PAH exposure and by incorporating information on maternal and fetal genotypes related to PAH metabolism.
AB - BACKGROUND:There is evidence in experimental model systems that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) results in congenital heart defects (CHDs); however, to our knowledge, this relationship has not been examined in humans. Therefore, we conducted a case-control study assessing the association between estimated maternal occupational exposure to PAHs and CHDs in offspring. METHODS:Data on CHD cases and control infants were obtained from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study for the period of 1997 to 2002. Exposure to PAHs was assigned by industrial hygienist consensus, based on self-reported maternal occupational histories from 1 month before conception through the third month of pregnancy. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between maternal occupational PAH exposure and specific CHD phenotypic subtypes among offspring. RESULTS:The prevalence of occupational PAH exposure was 4.0% in CHD case mothers (76/1907) and 3.6% in control mothers (104/2853). After adjusting for maternal age, race or ethnicity, education, smoking, folic acid supplementation, and study center, exposure was not associated with conotruncal defects (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58-1.67), septal defects (AOR, 1.28; 95% CI, 0.86-1.90), or with any isolated CHD subtype. CONCLUSIONS:Our findings do not support an association between potential maternal occupational exposure to PAHs and various CHDs in a large, population-based study. For CHD phenotypic subtypes in which modest nonsignificant associations were observed, future investigations could be improved by studying populations with a higher prevalence of PAH exposure and by incorporating information on maternal and fetal genotypes related to PAH metabolism.
KW - Birth defects
KW - Congenital heart defects
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Maternal occupation
KW - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
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U2 - 10.1002/bdra.23071
DO - 10.1002/bdra.23071
M3 - Article
C2 - 22945317
AN - SCOPUS:84869406289
SN - 1542-0752
VL - 94
SP - 875
EP - 881
JO - Birth Defects Research Part A - Clinical and Molecular Teratology
JF - Birth Defects Research Part A - Clinical and Molecular Teratology
IS - 11
ER -