Birth Injury Resource Center

Birth Injuries & Birth Defects - Workplace Chemical Exposure

In workplaces across the country, American workers are exposed to thousands of chemicals every day. Fortunately, these substances usually pose no threat when used under controlled circumstances.

Some chemicals, however, are so toxic that even strict adherence to safety protocols can't provide complete protection. In other cases, disregard for safety rules or improper handling of toxic substances place workers at risk for serious work-related illnesses and injuries. Among the most tragic results of workplace exposure to dangerous chemicals are birth defects suffered by a developing fetus in a mother's womb.

Silent Victims

One out of every 33 babies in the U.S. is born with some type of birth defect. While the cause of injury is unknown in most cases, studies have linked some serious birth defects to workplace exposure to certain chemicals.

According to one study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, women who are exposed to organic solvents at work are 13 times more likely than unexposed mothers to have a baby born with major defects.

The following real-life stories describe some of the effects of toxic chemicals on the tiniest of victims:

• In her first trimester of pregnancy, a woman became ill after breathing paint fumes in the factory where she worked. Six months later, her baby was born prematurely and died as the result of a lung ailment, which was linked to the mother's exposure to the noxious paint fumes.
• When a janitorial contractor used a buffing machine to polish a floor without adequate ventilation, a pregnant employee who worked in the area experienced headaches, nausea and respiratory distress. Her unborn child suffered permanent brain damage and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth.
• A worker in a semiconductor plant claimed that her son's multiple birth defects - which included a brain injury and a malformed arm - were due to her exposure to glycol ethers and acetates on the job

Workplace Chemicals and Associated Risks

Fumes from noxious substances in an expectant mother's workplace can travel through the placenta to affect the unborn fetus, especially in the first trimester of pregnancy. Below are a few of the more widely recognized workplace toxins, their potential effects on developing fetuses, and some of the occupations associated with their use.

• Anesthetic gases - Potential effect: miscarriage, low birth weight, and missing or malformed limbs and organs. At risk: medical, dental or veterinary workers.
• Carbon monoxide - Potential effect: retarded fetal growth. At risk: furnace and kiln operators, firefighters.
• Alcohol, ethanol, ethylene oxide - Potential effect: miscarriage and chromosomal damage. At risk: hairdressers, cosmetologists, photo processors, machinists, healthcare and agricultural workers.
• Benzene, xylene, and ethers - Potential effect: miscarriage and chromosome abnormalities. At risk: laboratory workers.
• Benlate - Potential effect: Anophthalmia, a medical term that is used to describe the absence of the globe and ocular (eye) tissue from the orbit. At risk: agricultural workers.
• Lead - Potential effect: miscarriage, premature birth, and infant mortality. At risk: battery makers, solderers and welders.
• Mercury - Potential effect: neurological disorders, cerebral palsy. At risk: workers in power plants, hazardous waste sites, dental offices, and hospitals, as well as assorted product manufacturers.
• Poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - Potential effect: low birth weight, various malformations, motor impairment, and stillbirth. At risk: telephone and electronic workers.
• Vinyl chloride - Potential effect: chromosomal abnormalities, miscarriage, and stillbirth. At risk: polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturers, makers of furniture and automobile upholstery, wall coverings, housewares, and automotive parts.
• Glycol ethers, toluene and other solvents - Potential effect: defects of many organ systems, miscarriage, heart valve dysfunction. At risk: electronic and semiconductor workers, industrial workers, painters.
• Pesticides - Potential effect: cleft palate, hemangioma, spina bifida, skeletal and nervous-system defects, miscarriage, low birth weight, premature delivery and stillbirth. At risk: agricultural workers.

Resources

• Starr, Michael, and Christine M. Wilson. "Fetal injury at work." New Jersey Law Journal (Nov 2, 2007)
• http://occmed.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/56/8/532#BIB3
• http://www.cdc.gov/noes/noes2/occs189.html
• http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060926183059.htm
• http://www.parents.com/parents/story.jsp?storyid=/templatedata
  /ab/story/data/ABPregnancyChemicals_05112004.xml
• http://www.perinatology.com/exposures/chemlist.htm
• http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command
  =viewArticleBasic&articleId=9046104
• http://www.ranknfile-ue.org/h&s0394.html
• http://www.aerias.org/DesktopModules/ArticleDetail.aspx?articleId=122
• http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/681_9146.asp
• Women's Reproductive Exposures. Risk & Insurance (Oct 1, 1999): 8.
• Occupational exposure to organic solvents sharply increases risk of birth defects, JAMA study says. Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News 27.22 (March 25, 1999).
• Fathering healthy babies. The University of California, Berkeley Wellness Letter 10.n7 (April 1994): 1(2).