Spontaneous fetal death among multigravid fertile women in relation to sport fish consumption and PCB exposure, New York State Angler Study

Thesis/Dissertation · Sat Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:6590552

Mendola, P

Spontaneous fetal death, a sentinel event for environmental reproductive toxicity, has been observed among various mammalian species following polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure. This exposure-based cohort study assessed the relationship between PCB exposure due to consumption of contaminated Lake Ontario sport fish and spontaneous fetal death. Using 1,820 women from the 1990-1991 New York State Angler Study, fish consumption data were obtained from food frequency questionnaires and reproductive histories from live birth certificates. A reliability study demonstrated an excellent level of agreement between the exact number of spontaneous fetal deaths recorded on the birth certificate compared with telephone interview data (kappa = 0.83). Women who had never eaten Lake Ontario sport fish were unexposed (n = 979) and 841 women reported various levels of exposure. Analyses were stratified by maternal gravidity and controlled for smoking status and maternal age. No significant increases in risk for spontaneous fetal death were seen for any estimate of PCB exposure including lifetime estimate of PCB exposure based on species-specific PCB levels, years of fish consumption, and kilograms of fish consumed, either in the 1990-1991 season or in a lifetime estimate. The only significant finding was a slight risk reduction for women of gravidity three or more with years of fish consumption (odds ratio = 0.97; p = 0.03; 95% confidence interval = 0.94-0.99). These findings suggest that PCB exposure from contaminated sport fish does not increase the risk of spontaneous fetal death.

• Research Organization: State Univ. of New York, Buffalo, NY (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6590552
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550500 -- Metabolism
551000 -- Physiological Systems
560300* -- Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
AROMATICS
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
DEATH
FEMALES
FETUSES
FISHES
FOOD CHAINS
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
MAMMALS
MAN
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS
PREGNANCY
PRIMATES
TOXICITY
VERTEBRATES
WOMEN