Birth defects associated with paternal firefighting in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Miriam R Siegel; Carissa M Rocheleau; Brittany S Hollerbach; Amel Omari; Sara A Jahnke; Lynn M Almli; Andrew F Olshan; National Birth Defects Prevention Study

doi:10.1002/ajim.23441

Birth defects associated with paternal firefighting in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Am J Ind Med. 2023 Jan;66(1):30-40. doi: 10.1002/ajim.23441. Epub 2022 Nov 22.

Authors

Miriam R Siegel¹, Carissa M Rocheleau¹, Brittany S Hollerbach², Amel Omari¹, Sara A Jahnke², Lynn M Almli³, Andrew F Olshan⁴; National Birth Defects Prevention Study

Affiliations

¹ Division of Field Studies and Engineering, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
² Center for Fire, Rescue, and EMS Health Research, NDRI-USA, Inc, Leawood, Kansas, USA.
³ Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
⁴ Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.

Abstract

Background: Few studies have evaluated birth defects among children of firefighters. We investigated associations between birth defects and paternal work as a firefighter compared to work in non-firefighting and police officer occupations.

Methods: We analyzed 1997-2011 data from the multi-site case-control National Birth Defects Prevention Study. Cases included fetuses or infants with major structural birth defects and controls included a random sample of live-born infants without major birth defects. Mothers of infants self-reported information about parents' occupations held during pregnancy. We investigated associations between paternal firefighting and birth defect groups using logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Referent groups included families reporting fathers working non-firefighting and police officer jobs.

Results: Occupational groups included 227 firefighters, 36,285 non-firefighters, and 433 police officers. Twenty-nine birth defects were analyzed. In adjusted analyses, fathers of children with total anomalous pulmonary venous return (TAPVR; OR = 3.1; 95% CI = 1.1-8.7), cleft palate (OR = 1.8; 95% CI = 1.0-3.3), cleft lip (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.2-4.2), and transverse limb deficiency (OR = 2.2; 95% CI = 1.1-4.7) were more likely than fathers of controls to be firefighters, versus non-firefighters. In police-referent analyses, fathers of children with cleft palate were 2.4 times more likely to be firefighters than fathers of controls (95% CI = 1.1-5.4).

Conclusions: Paternal firefighting may be associated with an elevated risk of birth defects in offspring. Additional studies are warranted to replicate these findings. Further research may contribute to a greater understanding of the reproductive health of firefighters and their families for guiding workplace practices.

Keywords: birth defects; firefighting; occupational health; paternal exposure; reproductive health.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Case-Control Studies
Child
Cleft Lip*
Cleft Palate*
Fathers
Female
Humans
Male
Occupations
Pregnancy
Risk Factors

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding