Fetal deaths and proximity to hazardous waste sites in Washington State

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.

We examined the risk of fetal death in relation to maternal residential proximity to hazardous waste sites.

We conducted a population-based case-control study using Washington State vital records for 1987-2001. Cases were women with fetal deaths at > or = 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).

The risk of fetal death for women residing < or = 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 < or = 5 miles from sites with contaminated air, soil, water, solvents, or metals; however, fetal death risk increased among women residing < or = 1 mile from pesticide-containing sites (OR = 1.28; 95% CI, 1.13-1.46).

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.