Spontaneous abortion and maternal work in greenhouses

Background A positive association between maternal occupational exposure to pesticide and spontaneous abortion has been reported in some studies. Work in greenhouses may imply exposure of pregnant women to pesticides continuously and at elevated level. Methods A total of 717 women working in greenhouses provided information on 973 pregnancies, including 110 spontaneous abortions. These pregnancies were classified as exposed or not exposed according to maternal occupation, re-entry activities and application of pesticides in greenhouses during at least 1 month in the first trimester of pregnancy. The ORs for spontaneous abortion were estimated through a generalised estimate equations model for all orders of pregnancy together, and through a logistic regression model limited to first pregnancies. Results Increased risks of spontaneous abortion were found for maternal re-entry activities within 24 hr after pesticides were applied (all orders of pregnancy: OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.3–7.7; first pregnancies: OR 3.8, 95% CI 1.0–13.9) and for those who applied pesticides (all orders of pregnancy: OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.0–6.6; first pregnancies: OR 3.7, 95% CI 0.7–20,6) Conclusions The observed results support the hypothesis of an association between maternal work in greenhouses and spontaneous abortion. The main limitations of the study are lack of information on the specific chemicals used and the small number of pregnancies heavily exposed to pesticides. Am. J. Ind. Med. 51:290–295, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.