Rates of Congenital Anomalies and Other Adverse Birth Outcomes in an Offspring Cohort of Registered Nurses from British Columbia, Canada (Quantitative Research) (Report‪)‬

A variety of chemicals inherent to occupational environments have the potential to influence prenatal development, resulting in such adverse birth outcomes as congenital anomalies, stillbirths, low birth weight, and prematurity. (1-4) A congenital anomaly is any structural (most common), functional, or biochemical abnormality that is present at birth. (5) Approximately 15-25% of congenital anomalies are due to known genetic conditions (e.g., chromosomal anomalies) and the remaining cases are suspected to have some degree of environmental influence. (5) Health care workers are exposed to a variety of workplace hazards that can result in adverse reproductive outcomes. (6) There are more than 2.5 million registered nurses employed in the US (7) and 250,000 in Canada, (8) who are potentially exposed to suspected reproductive hazards including anaesthetic gases, antineoplastic drugs, ionizing radiation, sterilizing agents, disinfectants, and infectious agents. (9,10)