Maternal nickel exposure and congenital musculoskeletal defects.

Objective: To investigate whether women occupationally exposed to nickel in early pregnancy are at elevated risk of delivering a newborn with a malformation or deformation of the musculoskeletal system (ICD-10: Q65-Q79).

Methods: Data about the newborn, maternal occupation and workplace were obtained using the Kola Birth Register (KBR). Each record in the KBR was assigned a categorical nickel (Ni) exposure rating according to the occupation the delivering woman had at the time of becoming pregnant.

Spontaneous abortions among nickel-exposed female refinery workers.

A case-control study to investigate whether women employed in nickel-exposed work areas in early pregnancy are at elevated risk of spontaneous abortion (SA). Data about pregnancy outcome and maternal factors were obtained about each delivery and SA from women in selected work places. Each pregnancy record was assigned a categorical nickel (Ni) exposure rating according to the women's occupations at pregnancy onset.

Small-for-gestational-age newborns of female refinery workers exposed to nickel.

Objectives: It has not yet been established whether exposure to nickel (Ni) compounds may cause reproductive toxicity. The objective of this study was to investigate whether women employed under conditions of nickel exposure in early pregnancy were at elevated risk of delivering a newborn small-for-gestational-age (SGA).

Materials And Methods: A register-based study of a well defined population.

Pregnancy health and outcome in two cities in the Kola Peninsula, Northwestern Russia.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to compare the prevalence of selected maternal and lifestyle factors as well as the reproductive outcome of working women in two cities in Northwestern Russia (Moncegorsk and Apatity), and to assess the quality of pregnancy-outcome data obtained in an interview with registered information.

Study Design: A retrospective questionnaire study in an interview format. Women (n =1696) from selected workplaces in Apatity and Moncegorsk participated (85% of those available).

Genital malformations in newborns of female nickel-refinery workers.

Objectives: This study investigated whether pregnant women employed in nickel-exposed work areas are at elevated risk of delivering a newborn with a genital malformation.

Methods: In this register-based cohort study, data about pregnancy outcome and occupation were obtained using the Kola Birth Registry. Each record in the Registry was assigned a categorical nickel exposure rating according to the occupation the delivering woman had at the time of becoming pregnant, using, as guidelines, the water-soluble nickel subfraction of the inhalable aerosol fraction obtained by personal monitoring for nickel-refinery workers or the measured urinary nickel concentrations.

The Kola Birth Registry and perinatal mortality in Moncegorsk, Russia.

Background: A population-based birth registry has been set up for the Arctic town of Moncegorsk in north-western Russia. In this investigation, the quality and the content of the registry are assessed and the perinatal mortality (PM) rates in the period 1973-97 estimated.

Material And Method: Enrollment in the Kola Birth Registry (KBR) involved the retrospective inclusion of all births with at least 28 weeks of gestation in Moncegorsk in the period 1973-97.