Exposure to some industrial chemicals may make it harder for women to have a healthy pregnancy, researchers warn today.
The Dutch study links chemicals used to make plastics and pesticides to women facing difficulty in conceiving.
Some 6,000 women were involved in the research, undergoing detailed examination and questioning.
Writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, the researchers say exposure to phthalates – which make plastics flexible – were at risk as well as those exposed to pesticides.
They were twice as likely as other women to take longer than six months to conceive and to have low birth-weight babies.
However the numbers of women at risk were small. Some 41 among the 6,000 were thought likely to have been exposed to phthalates – but with a high risk of conception problems.
The researchers say women who undertook physically demanding work had healthier pregnancies – possibly because of the levels of fitness required for the jobs.
Researcher Dr Alex Burdorf, of Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, warns: "This birth cohort study presents evidence of … adverse effects of maternal occupational exposure to phthalates and pesticides on fertility and pregnancy outcomes."
Occupational and Environmental Medicine doi: 10.1136/oem.2009.046518
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