Effects of Occupational Exposure to Low-Level Carbon Disulfide (CS2) on Menstruation and Pregnancy

Abstract

In a retrospective cohort study, 265 female workers exposed to CS2 and 291 non-exposed female workers, as well as 530 pregnancies were investigated focusing on the status of menstruation and the term and outcome of pregnancy. The average CS2 concentration to which the workers had been exposed for the 15 years prior to the study was 1.7-14.8 mg/m3. The result showed that exposed female workers had a higher incidence rate of menstrual disturbance than the non-exposed women (35.9% vs. 18.2%, RR=2.0, p<0.01), and an exposure-response relationship between the CS2 level and the incidence rate of menstrual disturbance was revealed. No significant difference was found between the exposed and non-exposed groups in terms of rates of toxemia, emesis gravidarum, spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, premature and overdue delivery, or congenital malformation. The birth weights for the two groups were similar. The possible effect of confounding factors was controlled during both the survey and data analysis. These results show that exposure to CS2 at around 10 mg/m3 might affect the function of the female reproductive system. © 1988, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. All rights reserved.