The effect of smelter work on fecundity

Time to pregnancy (TTP) has been proposed as a screening instrument for the detection of environmental and occupational hazards to reproduction. Our a im was to determine whether reduced fecundity could be found among smelter workers and couples living near the smelter. The number of months required to achieve a pregnancy was determined via a questionnaire, and TTP was anal yed using a logistic regression model with a cutoff at 12 months. No signif icant findings were found for a risk of having to wait for more than 12 mon ths to achieve pregnancy because of occupation nl or environmental exposure . It could be that the exposure variables tested were not sensitive enough in detecting hazards to reproduction or that they were of minor importance. A tendency toward a prolonged TTP was found for couples hiving near the sm elter.