Skip Navigation


American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on July 13, 2005
American Journal of Epidemiology 2005 162(4):334-344; doi:10.1093/aje/kwi211
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
162/4/334    most recent
kwi211v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (7)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Porter, C. K.
Right arrow Articles by Riddle, M. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Porter, C. K.
Right arrow Articles by Riddle, M. R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology Copyright © 2005 by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health All rights reserved

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

The Effect of Trihalomethane and Haloacetic Acid Exposure on Fetal Growth in a Maryland County

Chad K. Porter1, Shannon D. Putnam2, Katherine L. Hunting3 and Mark R. Riddle4

1 Enteric Diseases Department, Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, MD
2 Naval Medical Research Unit-2, Jakarta, Indonesia
3 School of Public Health and Health Services, George Washington University, Washington, DC
4 Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD

Correspondence to Chad K. Porter, Enteric Diseases Department, Infectious Disease Directorate, Naval Medical Research Center, 503 Robert Grant Avenue, Silver Spring, MD 20910-7500 (e-mail: porterc{at}nmrc.navy.mil).

As water flows from treatment plants to the tap, chlorine, used to disinfect surface water meant for residential use, reacts with residual organic and inorganic matter, creating chlorine disinfection by-products. In recent years, these by-products have been scrutinized as a potential reproductive and developmental hazard. This study examined whether exposure to the four total trihalomethanes or the five haloacetic acids (two major subgroups of chlorine disinfection by-products) was related to an increased risk of intrauterine growth retardation in four regions of a Maryland county from 1998 to 2002. Maternal exposure to each by-product was evaluated for each trimester as well as over the entire pregnancy. The authors were not able to demonstrate any consistent, statistically significant effect on intrauterine growth retardation associated with any of the chlorine disinfection by-products, nor did they find any indication of a dose-response relation. However, they did find some potential for a slightly elevated risk of intrauterine growth retardation during the second and third trimesters for both total trihalomethanes and five haloacetic acids when comparing increasing quintiles of exposure to constituents of total trihalomethanes and five haloacetic acids.

chlorine; disinfectants; fetal growth retardation; trihalomethanes; water supply

Abbreviations: CDBPs, chlorine disinfection by-products; CI, confidence interval; HAA5, five haloacetic acids; IUGR, intrauterine growth retardation; OR, odds ratio; TTHM, total trihalomethane


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Phil Trans R Soc AHome page
M. J. Nieuwenhuijsen, J. Grellier, R. Smith, N. Iszatt, J. Bennett, N. Best, and M. Toledano
The epidemiology and possible mechanisms of disinfection by-products in drinking water
Phil Trans R Soc A, October 13, 2009; 367(1904): 4043 - 4076.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.