Work as a hairdresser and cosmetologist and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
BACKGROUND
Hairdressers and cosmetologists are commonly exposed to chemicals, poor posture and psychological stress that may increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes.


OBJECTIVE
To assess whether work as a hairdresser and cosmetologist during pregnancy increases the risk of low birth weight, preterm delivery, small for gestational age (SGA) and perinatal death.


METHODS
The 1990-2004 Finnish Medical Birth Registry was used to identify all singletons of hairdressers (n = 10 622) and cosmetologists (n = 2490) and those of teachers (n = 18 594) as the reference group. The main outcomes were sexual differentiation measured as the probability of female gender, low birth weight, preterm delivery, SGA and perinatal death. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) adjusted for maternal age, parity, marital status and maternal smoking during pregnancy.


RESULTS
In logistic regression, the risk of low birth weight (adjusted OR 1.44, 95% CI 1.23-1.69), preterm delivery (adjusted OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.07-1.38), SGA (adjusted OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.38-2.07) and perinatal death (adjusted OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.01-1.60) was higher in hairdressers than in teachers. In cosmetologists, the risk of SGA (adjusted OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.10-2.12) and perinatal death (adjusted OR 1.36, 95% CI 0.62-2.98) was elevated. There were no substantial differences in the sex distribution.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provides evidence that work as a hairdresser or cosmetologist may reduce foetal growth. Work as a hairdresser may also increase the risk of preterm delivery and perinatal death.
Halliday-Bell
Jacqueline A
JA
Institute of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, University of Birmingham, UK.
Gissler
Mika
M
Jaakkola
Jouni J K
JJ
D001461:Barbering / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001505:Beauty Culture / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D007752:Obstetric Labor, Premature / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D054238:Perinatal Mortality; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects