Fetal Deaths and Proximity to Hazardous Waste Sites in Washington State Beth A. Mueller,1,2 Carrie M. Kuehn,1,2 Carrie K. Shapiro-Mendoza,3 and Kay M. Tomashek3 1Public Health Sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA; 2Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health & Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA; 3Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Reproductive Health, Maternal and Infant Health Branch, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Abstract Background: The in utero period is one of increased susceptibility to environmental effects. The effects of prenatal exposure to environmental toxicants on various adverse pregnancy outcomes, including fetal death, are not well understood. Objective: We examined the risk of fetal death in relation to maternal residential proximity to hazardous waste sites. Methods: We conducted a population-based case–control study using Washington State vital records for 1987–2001. Cases were women with fetal deaths at ≥ 20 weeks (n = 7,054) . Ten controls per case were randomly selected from live births. Locations of 939 hazardous waste sites were identified from the Department of Ecology registry. We measured distance from maternal residence at delivery to the nearest hazardous waste site, and calculated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) . Results: The risk of fetal death for women residing ≤ 0.5 miles, relative to > 5 miles, from a hazardous waste site was not increased (adjusted OR = 1.06 ; 95% CI, 0.90–1.25) . No associations were observed for any proximity categories ≤ 5 miles from sites with contaminated air, soil, water, solvents, or metals ; however, fetal death risk increased among women residing ≤ 1 mile from pesticide-containing sites (OR = 1.28 ; 95% CI, 1.13–1.46) . Conclusion: These results do not suggest that fetal death is associated with residential proximity to hazardous waste sites overall ; however, close proximity to pesticide-containing sites may increase the risk of fetal death. Key words: birth certificates, environmental exposures, fetal death, fetal death certificates, pesticides. Environ Health Perspect 115:776–780 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.9750 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 14 February 2007] Address correspondence to B.A. Mueller, Public Health Sciences M4-C308, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, 1100 Fairview Ave. N (M4-C308) , Seattle, WA 98109-1024 USA. Telephone: (206) 667-4630. Fax: (206) 667-5948. E-mail: bmueller@fhcrc.org We thank the Washington State Department of Health and B. O'Brien. All work was performed at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. This study was funded by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia (# U60 CCU007277-13) . Findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent views of the funding agency. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 21 September 2006 ; accepted 14 February 2007. The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |