Spontaneous abortions among cosmetologists

Details

• Personal Author:
  John EM ; Savitz DA ; Shy, Carl M.
• Description:
  A study was conducted to assess whether work in cosmetology during the first trimester of pregnancy could be associated with a heightened rate of spontaneous abortion. The study noted 34,747 registered cosmetologists in the state of North Carolina, of whom 8,356 were females aged 22 to 36 years. Women were eligible for inclusion in the study if they had experienced a spontaneous abortion of less than 30 weeks gestation after the last menstrual period between 1983 and 1988. Women without a spontaneous abortion during the 5 year period were eligible for inclusion if the most recent pregnancy between 1983 and 1988 resulted in a single live birth. Of the screened population, 6,202 (74%) responded. Limiting the pregnancies to one per woman, questionnaires identified 267 eligible spontaneous abortions and 1,429 eligible live births for a total of 1,696 women. Of the respondents, 87% were white, 92% had a high school education, 65% had a family income of less than 20,000 dollars per year, 52% worked at least 35 hours a week during the first trimester, and 43% were less than 25 years of age at conception. Working as a full time cosmetologist had only a slightly increased risk of spontaneous abortion compared with women employed full time in other fields. Among the full time workers, no strong increase was noted between spontaneous abortion incidence and exposure to dyes. Also among the full time workers there was an increase in the odds ratios for those exposed to formaldehyde (50000) and alcohol based disinfectants, work in small salons with fewer than four employees or work in salons where nail sculpturing was performed by other employees. Women who wore protective gloves always or most of the time had a lower rate for spontaneous abortion. For women who worked less than 35 hours a week or who performed only a few chemical services during the week, no increased risk was noted. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cosmetics Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Skin Solvents Surveys And Questionnaires Urogenital Diseases Urogenital System
• Keywords:
  Alcohol Author Keywords: Spontaneous Abortion Chemicals Cosmetics-workers Cosmetology Formaldehyde Hairdressers NIOSH-Grant NIOSH-Publication Organic-solvents Questionnaires Reproductive-hazards Reproductive-system-disorders Risk-factors Skin-exposure Solvent-vapors Work During Pregnancy Working Conditions

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• ISSN:
  1044-3983
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  147-155
• Volume:
  5
• Issue:
  2
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00226645
• Citation:
  Epidemiology 1994 Mar; 5(2):147-155
• Contact Point Address:
  Epidemiology University of North Carolina 207 Rosenau Hall 201H Chapel Hill, NC 27514
• CAS Registry Number:
  Formaldehyde (CAS RN 50-00-0)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• NORA Priority Area:
  Reproductive System Disorders
• Performing Organization:
  University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  19870929
• Source Full Name:
  Epidemiology
• End Date:
  19900928
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9f14b94b7ba066a0a327e8a59cfeb18627dfb0ee65fc42f9eb1ff8f38cfb73721d4049ef63bc1a23a3ce908f9e5909da9d6ec9bd97f09651437579f82523c073
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/205623/cdc_205623_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 5.43 MB ]