Spontaneous abortions among women employed in the plastics industry

A matched case-control study was done to analyze whether certain occupational exposures in the plastics industry were related to the risk of spontaneous abortions. Information on spontaneous abortions (cases) and births (controls) was obtained from the hospital discharge register; data on occupational exposures were obtained from the occupational health services of the workplaces. No increased risk of spontaneous abortions was observed among workers processing polymerized plastics or heated plastics made of vinyl chloride or of styrene. Owing to the low statistical power of the study, only strong effects can be ruled out. The odds ratio for workers actually processing polyurethane was increased (1.9, not statistically significant), and that for all workers in polyurethane-processing factories was significantly increased (3.0, p = 0.02). The finding needs to be investigated further in future studies.