Maternal occupational exposure to solvents and the risk of congenital heart defects in offspring

Recognition of maternal exposure to solvents and its relationship with congenital heart defects in infants can be effective in identifying effective environmental factors in the occurrence of anomalies. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between maternal occupational exposure to solvent and birth congenital heart defects in infants.
In this case control study, 200 infants referred to Afshar Hospital of Yazd, who had congenital heart defects, were included in the sample as well as 400 healthy matched infants. A questionnaire consisting of three parts was used as a tool. The questionnaires were completed through a telephone interview. Mother's job information was extracted from the questionnaires and a survey of maternal care was done using a matrix of job evaluation. Demographic characteristics were assessed by statistical tests. The relationship between occupational exposure to solvent and anomalies was calculated using odds ratios and adjusted odds ratios.
The maternal occupational exposure to solvents in the case sample (91.5%) was significantly higher than the control sample (83.2%), and this relationship was statistically significant (OR = 2/16, 95% CI=1/21-4/05) after the elimination of the effect of interfering factors, there was no significant difference between mother's exposure to solvent and cardiac anomalies in infants (AOR = 1.85 , 95% CI=0/69-5).
The findings of this study indicate that one of the factors that may affect the health of the fetus is the mother's contact with solvents. In this regard, mother's training on compliance with occupational safety standards can have a significant effect on occupational exposure control.