Arsenic in drinking water and pregnancy outcomes

We studied a group of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who were chro nically exposed to arsenic through drinking water to identify the pregnancy outcomes in terms of live birth, stillbirth, spontaneous abortion, and pre term birth. We compared pregnancy outcomes of exposed respondents with preg nancy outcomes of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) who were not expo sed to arsenic-contaminated water. In a cross-sectional study, we matched t he women in both exposed and nonexposed groups for age, socioeconomic statu s, education, and age at marriage. The total sample size was 192, with 96 w omen in each group (i.e., exposed and nonexposed). Of the respondents in th e exposed group, 98% had been drinking water containing greater than or equ al to 0.10 mg/L arsenic and 43.8% had been drinking arsenic-contaminated wa ter for 5-10 years. Skin manifestation due to chronic arsenic exposure was present in 22.9% of the respondents. Adverse pregnancy outcomes in terms of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, and preterm birth rates were significant ly higher in the exposed group than those in the nonexposed group (p = 0.00 8, p = 0.046, and p = 0.018, respectively).