Pregnancy outcomes in contaminated areas, SP, Brazil

Estimate and compare prevalence of events related to pregnancy (pregnancy, low birth weight, premature delivery, spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, congenital malformation, and multiple births) in populations exposed and non-exposed to environmental contaminants in Santos and São Vicente Estuary.

This study was part of a large project financed by CNPq, which aimed to estimate health effects associated with environmental area, contaminants exposure among individuals of the Baixada Santista region. This cross-sectional study evaluated two neighborhoods of São Vicente near a contaminated area, and one neighborhood of Bertioga, the control area. A structured and previously tested questionnaire was applied at 236 households in São Vicente and 251 households in Bertioga in order to obtain the data. The chi-square test or Fisher's exact test were used to evaluate associations between area and qualitative variables; Student's t test or two proportion comparison test were used to evaluate differences between variables; and a significance level of 5% adopted.

There was significant association between living in Bertioga (p = 0.01) and number of pregnancies in the past five years. In São Vicente, 64 (28.3%) childbearing age women became pregnant whereas in Bertioga there where 109 (38.8%). There were no statistical significant associations between living in any area and others pregnancy outcomes evaluated.

Although no significant association was found, prevalence of low birth weight, preterm delivery and spontaneous abortion and prevalent odds ratio were higher in contaminated area. This study's evidence of a reduced number of pregnancies in contaminated area strengthens the need for additional more in-depth studies in Santos and São Vicente Estuary.