Consumption of contaminated sport fish from Lake Ontario and time-to- pregnancy: New York State Angler Cohort

Abstract

Sport fish from the Great Lakes are contaminated with halogenated organics, heavy metals, and pesticides, thus serving as a route of exposure for fish-consuming populations. These contaminants are recognized reproductive toxicants in animals; few human studies are available. The purpose of this study was to assess consumption of contaminated fish in relation to time-to-pregnancy (TTP) among women in the New York State Angler Cohort. In 1998. structured telephone interviews were conducted with 2,445 of 2,977 (82%) female cohort members aged 18-40 years who stated upon enrollment in the cohort in 1991 that they were considering pregnancy over the next 3 years. Among the 1,234 women who reported being pregnant 874 (71%) had a known TTP and comprise the study sample. After descriptive analyses, log transformations of the number of years of fish consumption (duration) and TTP were performed and entered into multiple regression models that also included other covariates. Duration of fish consumption and maternal age accounted for only a small percentage of the explained variance in TTP (R2 = 0.005), even after the analysis was restricted to women who reported eating fish (R2 = 0.006). All beta coefficients were positive. These preliminary findings do not support an adverse effect of contaminated fish consumption on TTP.