| IJOMEH
![Zdjęcie](http://oldwww.imp.lodz.pl/gal_cache/tnm_e91ab88191cfdcd.jpg)
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OCCUPATIONAL MEDICINE AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
Current website - http://ijomeh.eu
Int. J. Occup. Med. Environ Health 2007;20(4):327-338 |
DOI 10.2478/v10001-007-0034-0 |
ARILD VAKTSKJOLD, LJUDMILA VASILJEVNA TALYKOVA, VALERIJ PETROVITSJ CHASHSHIN, JON ÖYVIND ODLAND, and EVERT NIEBOER |
Abstract
Objectives: It has not yet been established whether exposure to
nickel (Ni) compounds may cause reproductive toxicity. The objective of
this study was to investigate whether women employed under conditions
of nickel exposure in early pregnancy were at elevated risk of
delivering a newborn small-for-gestational-age (SGA). Materials and Methods:
A register-based study of a well defined population. Data on pregnancy
outcome and maternal occupation were obtained from the Kola Birth
Registry. Each birth record was assigned a Ni exposure rating category
according to maternal occupation at the time of becoming pregnant.
Nickel exposure assessment was based on determining the water-soluble
Ni subfraction of respirable aerosol fraction obtained by personal
monitoring, and/or on measurements of urine Ni concentration. The
reference population were the delivering women with background exposure
level. The study population consisted of 22 836 births (> 27 weeks
of gestation) and the SGA infants were defined as below the 10th
percentile birth weight for gestational age in the source population.
Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the association of the
outcome with the assigned exposure rating category. Results: The adjusted odds ratio for Ni-exposed women for giving birth to an SGA newborn was 0.84 (95% CI: 0.75-0.93). Conclusions:
We found no adverse effect of maternal occupational exposure to
water-soluble Ni in the first part of pregnancy on the risk of
delivering an SGA newborn without trisomy. The finding does not exclude
a possibility that exposure throughout pregnancy might produce such an
effect.
Key words
Fetal growth retardation, Nickel, Small-for-gestational-age infant, Registry, Russia![](images/buttons/buynum_blue_EN.gif)