Paternal Radiation Exposure in The Workplace Linked to Stillbirth

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

For your information, from the Medscape email newsletter.
--Susan Gawarecki

Paternal Radiation Exposure in The Workplace Linked to Stillbirth in
British Study 

WESTPORT, Oct 27 (Reuters Health) - Men exposed to external radiation in
the workplace, particularly in high doses, may be at increased risk of
having a
stillborn child, British researchers say in the October 23rd issue of
The Lancet. 

However, this "...possible risk of stillbirth must be kept in
perspective," Dr.
Hazel Inskip, of the University of Southampton, UK, cautions in an
editorial
elsewhere in the journal.

Dr. Louise Parker, of the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle upon
Tyne, and
colleagues linked birth registration data with information on radiation
exposure
for men employed at a nuclear reprocessing plant in Sellafield. Of
nearly
250,000 livebirths and more than 3,700 stillbirths in the county of
Cumbria
between 1950 and 1989, approximately 9,000 livebirths and 130
stillbirths
involved partners of men working at the plant.

"Stillbirth risk was significantly associated with total external
paternal
preconceptional irradiation in both the cohort and case-control
studies," the
investigators report. Specifically, the risk of stillbirth increased 24%
for each
100 mSv increase in the father's total exposure to external ionizing
radiation
before conception.

The association between paternal radiation exposure and stillbirth was
greatest
for stillbirths associated with birth defects, particularly neural-tube
defects.

The new findings may "...come as a surprise to many," editorialist Dr.
Inskip
says, partly because many scientists have dismissed the possibility of a
link
between stillbirth and paternal radiation exposure due to insufficient
evidence.

Dr. Inskip criticizes the British study for its size and lack of control
for maternal
factors associated with stillbirth, but acknowledges that the study does
raise a
few questions. In particular, the potential mechanism underlying the
link reported
by Dr. Parker and others remains uncertain. 

Hopefully, the forthcoming results of the Nuclear Industry Family Study
will
resolve the debate about whether or not paternal exposure to external
radiation
causes stillbirth, and provide some insight into possible explanations
for this
relationship, the editorialist concludes.

Lancet 1999;354:1400-1401,1407-1414.

-- 
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