[Environmental risk factors and outdoor formaldehyde and risk of congenital heart malformations].

UNLABELLED: The aim of the study was to assess the relationships between environmental risk factors and the risk of congenital heart malformations.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: An epidemiological case-control study was conducted. We investigated the effect of 43 potential risk factors for congenital heart malformations and calculated their crude and adjusted odds ratios.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed that maternal age at delivery (< 19 or > or = 35 years), marital status, chronic diseases, reproductive history, maternal and paternal smoking, occupational and residential hazards were associated with increased risk of congenital heart malformations. Residential exposure to ambient formaldehyde (>2.42 microg/m3) tended to increase the risk of congenital heart malformations by 24% (OR=1.24; 95% CI 0.81-2.07).

CONCLUSION

Stratified analysis of effects of exposure to occupational and residential hazards together showed that the risk of congenital heart malformations has increased significantly.