Maternal exposure to ambient levels of benzene and neural tube defects among offspring: Texas, 1999-2004

Details

• Personal Author:
  Canfield MA ; Chan W ; Langlois PH ; Lupo PJ ; Mitchell LE ; Symanski, Elaine ; Waller DK
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Previous studies have reported positive associations between maternal exposure to air pollutants and several adverse birth outcomes. However, there have been no studies assessing the association between environmental levels of hazardous air pollutants, such as benzene, and neural tube defects (NTDs), a common and serious group of congenital malformations. OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to conduct a case-control study assessing the association between ambient air levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) and the prevalence of NTDs among offspring. METHODS: The Texas Birth Defects Registry provided data on NTD cases (spina bifida and anencephaly) delivered between 1999 and 2004. The control group was a random sample of unaffected live births, frequency matched to cases on year of birth. Census tract-level estimates of annual BTEX levels were obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1999 Assessment System for Population Exposure Nationwide. Restricted cubic splines were used in mixed-effects logistic regression models to determine associations between each pollutant and NTD phenotype. RESULTS: Mothers living in census tracts with the highest benzene levels were more likely to have offspring with spina bifida than were women living in census tracts with the lowest levels (odds ratio = 2.30; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.22-4.33). No significant associations were observed between anencephaly and benzene or between any of the NTD phenotypes and toluene, ethylbenzene, or xylene. CONCLUSION: In the first study to assess the relationship between environmental levels of BTEX and NTDs, we found an association between benzene and spina bifida. Our results contribute to the growing body of evidence regarding air pollutant exposure and adverse birth outcomes. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Air Pollutants, Occupational Air Pollution, Indoor Benzene Environmental Exposure Environmental Pollution Hazardous Substances Musculoskeletal Diseases Musculoskeletal System Occupational Health Pregnancy Safety Toluene Xylenes

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• Keywords:
  Air-contamination Author Keywords: Air Pollution Benzene Benzenes Biological-effects Birth-defects Birth Defects BTEX Developmental-disorders Environmental-contamination Environmental-exposure Environmental-pollution Epidemiology Exposure-levels Hazardous-materials Hazardous Air Pollutants Information-retrieval-systems Maternal Exposure Mathematical-models Neural Tube Defects Pollutants Pollution Prenatal-exposure Skeletal-defects Spinal-cord-disorders Toluenes

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• ISSN:
  0091-6765
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 6 ; Texas
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  397-402
• Volume:
  119
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038965
• Citation:
  Environ Health Perspect 2011 Mar; 119(3):397-402
• Contact Point Address:
  E. Symanski, The University of Texas School of Public Health, 1200 Herman Pressler Dr., RAS 643, Houston, TX 77030, USA
• Email:
  Elaine.Symanski@uth.tmc.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Benzene (CAS RN 71-43-2) ; Ethylbenzene (CAS RN 100-41-4) ; Toluene (CAS RN 108-88-3) ; Xylene (CAS RN 1330-20-7)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• Performing Organization:
  University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health Perspectives
• End Date:
  20250630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:82a0d2b3dac84af644e6df20f1fe4ee111629b79f6266cbb620db3f334cb37c19c5e787f6431c12138ea639695a2175bb303fe57d1c037e1338af15ece1c98d7
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192477/cdc_192477_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 745.93 KB ]