title: Birth defects in infants born to employees of a microelectronics and business machine manufacturing facility.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Concerns about solvent releases from a microelectronics/business machine manufacturing facility in upstate New York led to interest in the health of former workers, including this investigation of birth defects in children of male and female employees.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children born 1983 to 2001 to facility employees were enumerated and matched to New York State's Congenital Malformations Registry. Reported structural birth defects were compared with numbers expected from state rates (excluding New York City), generating standardized prevalence ratios (SPRs). Exposure assessors classified employees as ever/never potentially exposed at the facility to metals, chlorinated hydrocarbons, and other hydrocarbons during windows critical to organogenesis (female workers) or spermatogenesis (male workers). Among workers, adjusted prevalence ratios were generated to evaluate associations between potential exposures and specific birth defects.
  
  
  RESULTS
  External comparisons for structural defects were at expectation for infants of male workers (SPR = 1.01; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.77-1.29; n = 60) and lower for births to female workers (SPR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.50-1.33; n = 18). Among full-term infants of male workers, ventricular septal defects (VSDs) were somewhat elevated compared with the general population (SPR = 1.58; 95% CI, 0.99-2.39; n = 22). Within the cohort, potential paternal metal exposure was associated with increased VSD risk (adjusted prevalence ratio = 2.70; 95% CI, = 1.09-6.67; n = 7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  While overall SPRs were near expectation, paternal exposure to metals (primarily lead) appeared to be associated with increased VSD risk in infants. Take-home of occupational exposures, nonoccupational exposures, and chance could not be ruled out as causes. Case numbers for many defects were small, limiting assessment of the role of occupational exposures. Birth Defects Research (Part A) 106:696-707, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Sharon R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Silver
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Lynne E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Pinkerton
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: Carissa M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Rocheleau
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations and Field Studies, Cincinnati, Ohio.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Deddens
authors.affiliation: New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Albany, New York.
authors.forename: Adrian M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Michalski
authors.affiliation: New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology, Albany, New York.
authors.forename: Alissa R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Van Zutphen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated / Q000009:adverse effects; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D000072499:Manufacturing and Industrial Facilities; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009518:New York / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009790:Occupations; D018812:Paternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D012997:Solvents / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D012997:Solvents
keywords: chlorinated hydrocarbons; congenital heart defects; lead; metals; occupational exposure; paternal exposure