Work with Video Display Terminals and the Risk of Low-Birth-Weight and Preterm Birth

Details

• Personal Author:
  Conover, David L. ; Grajewski, Barbara A. ; Mueller, Charles A. ; Murray, William E. Jr. ; Reefhuis J ; Roeleveld N ; Salvan A ; Schnorr, Teresa M.
• Description:
  Adverse reproductive outcomes including low birthweight (LBW) and preterm birth (PB) have been inconsistently associated with video display terminal (VDT) use in several studies. To determine whether electromagnetic fields emitted by VDTs are associated with an increased risk of LBW and PB, a cohort of female telephone operators who used VDTs at work was compared to a cohort of operators who did not use VDTs. To obtain reliable estimates of exposure, weekly hours of VDT use were determined from company records. Electromagnetic fields were measured at VDT workstations and, for comparison, at workstations without VDTs. Out of 2,430 women interviewed, there were 713 eligible singleton live births. For LBW (defined as 2800 grams), no excess risk was found to be associated with any VDT use during pregnancy (odds ratio (OR) = 0.9, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.5-1.7). Other previously reported risk factors for LBW (gestational age of 37 weeks or less, cigarette smoking, non-white race, first pregnancy, previous LBW infant, and an interpregnancy interval of less than 18 months) were confirmed in this study. Similarly, for PB (37 weeks gestation), no excess risk was found to be associated with VDT use (OR = 0.7,95% CI=0.4-1.1). The previously reported risk factors preeclampsia/toxemia, previous PB and diabetes were confirmed. The authors conclude that VDT use and exposure to the accompanying electromagnetic fields were not associated with an increased risk of low birthweight and preterm birth in this study. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Electromagnetic Phenomena Environmental Monitoring Epidemiology Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Pregnancy Risk Assessment Safety Smokers Women Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Biological-effects Biological-monitoring Biological-systems Electromagnetic-fields Exposure-assessment Exposure-levels Exposure-methods Occupational-exposure Occupational-health Prenatal-exposure Risk-analysis Smoking Statistical-analysis Video-display-terminals Work-analysis Work-environment Work-operations Work-practices Worker-health Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0002-9262
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  141
• Issue:
  11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20035621
• Citation:
  Am J Epidemiol 1995 Jun; 141(11)(Suppl):S73
• Contact Point Address:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, DSHEFS, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1995
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Source Full Name:
  American Journal of Epidemiology. Abstracts of the 28th Annual Meeting of the Society for Epidemiologic Research, Snowbird, Utah, June 21-24, 1995
• Supplement:
  Suppl
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b7fb35cae9c2cc11a442283e162386ea0b95a1b1ee19fc0a339333f044e33fd725af5e918ce705c4227aa04a766a4c4518ffc804621c674385d568ae03e9a06a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/187418/cdc_187418_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 312.30 KB ]