title: Male and female employment in the textile industry in relation to miscarriage and preterm delivery.
abstract: To address potential reproductive hazards in textile manufacturing, we conducted a community-based case-control study in central North Carolina. Miscarriage cases were identified from medical records (280 interviewed cases): preterm delivery cases and term, normal birth weight controls (454 and 605, respectively) were identified from area hospitals. Exposures were based on job title, an interview concerning textile-related exposures, expert imputation of exposure based on job titles and interviews, and self-reported exposures by women. Relative to women and men working in nonhazardous occupations, workers in the textile industry were not at increased risk of miscarriage or preterm delivery, with the possible exception of preterm delivery among women and men employed in sectors other than knitting and yarn mills and men employed in yarn mills. Inferred exposures to specific agents were also not associated with adverse pregnancy outcome. Subject to uncertainty in exposure assessment and nonresponse, these data indicate an absence of adverse effects of the textile workplace environment on these pregnancy outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Savitz
authors.forename: K M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Brett
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Baird
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tse
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D009790:Occupations / Q000145:classification; D016017:Odds Ratio; D018812:Paternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012494:Sampling Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013783:Textile Industry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*