Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Evaluation of the association between birth defects and exposure to ambient vinyl chloride

Journal Article · · Teratology; (United States)
; ;
Birth defects incidence for infants born to residents of Shawinigan, Canada in 1966-1979 were significantly higher than in three comparison communities. Since there has been a vinyl chloride polymerization plant in this town since 1943 from which ten cases of angiosarcoma of the liver have been identified, this study explores the possible association between exposure to vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) in ambient air and the occurrence of birth defects in the community. The excess of birth defects fluctuated seasonally in a way that corresponded to changes in VCM concentration in the environment. Mothers who gave birth to malformed children were younger on average in Shawinigan than in the comparison communities. However, there was no excess of still-births in Shawinigan. The excess in birth defects involved most organ systems, and variation in birth-defect rates among school districts could not be accounted for by estimates of VCM in the atmosphere. The occupational and residential histories of parents who gave birth to malformed infants were compared with those of parents of normal infants. The two groups did not differ in occupational exposure or closeness of residence to the vinyl chloride polymerization plant. Some descriptive data from this study raised the hypothesis of an association between VCM in the air and birth defects in the exposed community, but as a whole, within the sample size available, such an association could not be substantiated.
Research Organization:
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada
OSTI ID:
5473335
Journal Information:
Teratology; (United States), Journal Name: Teratology; (United States) Vol. 27:3; ISSN TJADA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Central nervous system malformations in relation to two polyvinyl chloride production facilities
Journal Article · Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1989 · Archives of Environmental Health; (USA) · OSTI ID:5128533
Maternal exposure to neighborhood carbon monoxide and risk of low infant birth weight
Journal Article · Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1987 · Public Health Rep.; (United States) · OSTI ID:6243036
Water nitrates and CNS birth defects: a population-based case-control study
Journal Article · Mon Feb 29 23:00:00 EST 1988 · Arch. Environ. Health; (United States) · OSTI ID:6840055

Related Subjects

560306* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology-- Man-- (-1987)
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
AGE DEPENDENCE
AGE GROUPS
AIR POLLUTION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CANADA
CHEMICAL INDUSTRY
CHILDREN
CHLORIDES
CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS
EPIDEMIOLOGY
FEMALES
HALIDES
HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
INDUSTRY
INFANTS
MALES
MALFORMATIONS
MONOMERS
NORTH AMERICA
PATHOLOGICAL CHANGES
POLLUTION
PREGNANCY
QUEBEC
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
VARIATIONS
VINYL MONOMERS