MATERNAL OCCUPATION IN THE LEATHER INDUSTRY AND SELECTED CONGENITAL-MALFORMATIONS

Objectives-Data from a hospital based case-control study were analysed to assess the relation between maternal occupation in the leather ind ustry and several groups of congenital defects (nervous system, cardia c defects of closure, oral cleft, epispadia or hypospadia, and multipl e anomalies). Methods-Cases and controls were selected from eight publ ic hospitals in Comunidad Valenciana, Spain, in 1993 and 1994. Cases w ere located from the hospital discharge records, including children bo rn and diagnosed in some of the selected hospitals during their first year of life. Controls were selected from births without congenital de fects in the same hospitals and dates of the cases (ratio 1:1). Both p arents of selected children were interviewed (mainly by phone) and inf ormation about potential confounding variables and occupational histor y during the three years before the birth was collected in structured questionnaires. Results-A total of 261 cases and the same number of co ntrols were included in the study. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) were est imated for maternal occupation in the leather industry in the period b etween three months before the conception and the birth of the child ( n=22), and each selected group of congenital malformations: nervous sy stem defects (OR 1.02, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.12 to 8.51), cardiac defects of closure (OR 1.78, 95% CI 0.44 to 7.17), oral cleft s (OR 6.18, 95% CI 1.48 to 25.69), for epispadia or hypospadia (OR 4.0 5, 95% CI 0.77 to 21.44), and multiple anomalies (OR 3.14, 95% CI 0.82 to 12.00). Conclusion-These data are compatible with an increased ris k for oral clefts in the offspring of women working in the leather ind ustry. Some other categories of defect could have an increased risk as well, although for these our data cannot exclude random error as an e xplanation. Given these results and previous findings in similar studi es, some precautionary recommendations regarding maternal exposure in leather industries, probably in relation to solvents, would be justifi ed.