title: The risk of congenital malformations and other neonatal and maternal health outcomes among licensed cosmetologists.
abstract: This study sought to determine if cosmetologists in New York State (NYS) have a higher risk of complications of labor/delivery or congenital malformations and poor neonatal health indicators among their offspring compared with Realtors and the general population. This retrospective cohort study matched licensing records for cosmetologists and realtors to birth records and the NYS Congenital Malformations Registry from 1997 to 2003. A random sample of NYS birth certificates, frequency matched to cosmetologists on year of child's birth, mother's ethnicity, and education, was also formed. Outcomes include malformations of each major organ system, neonatal health indicators, and complications of labor/delivery. Multivariate logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), controlling for potential confounders. Compared with Realtors, cosmetologists had an increased risk of several maternal and neonatal health indicators, including postpartum hemorrhage (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 1.26, 3.58), failure to progress (OR = 1.31; 95% CI 1.12, 1.54), and newborn intubation (OR = 2.34; 95% CI 1.21, 4.51), among others. We did not observe an increased risk of congenital malformations among cosmetologists' offspring. Working as a cosmetologist was positively associated with several adverse maternal perinatal and neonatal health indicators but was not associated with congenital malformations in this study. These results are useful for hypothesis generating.
authors.affiliation: New York State Department of Health, Center for Environmental Health, Troy, New York 12180, USA. mlh06@health.state.ny.us
authors.forename: Michele L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Herdt-Losavio
authors.forename: Shao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Charlotte M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Druschel
authors.forename: Syni-An
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Mauer
authors.forename: G Anders
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Carlson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D000013:Congenital Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D003357:Cosmetic Techniques; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008004:Licensure; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008429:Maternal Welfare; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics