PREVALENCE OF PREGNANCY OUTCOMES IN CONTAMINATED AREAS IN ESTUARY OF SANTOS AND SÃO VICENTE, SÃO PAULO STATE, BRAZIL

Background and Aims: The Estuary region hosts a large number of industries, based on petrochemical, steel and production of fertilizers since the 1950s. Epidemiology provides evidence that fetus and infants are probably more susceptible to environmental toxic substances than adults. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of adverse pregnancy outcomes in these contaminated areas comparing to a non contaminated area (control). Methods: We adopted a cross sectional study. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was applied to 820 families in each one of the five studied areas: four of them in the Estuary region and one in a control area without evidences of environmental contamination but with the same socioeconomic profile. We estimated the prevalence of pregnancy outcomes (abortion, prematurity, low birth weight – LBW, stillbirth, congenital malformation), controlling to important pregnancy risk factors (time of exposure in the area, occupational exposure, use of alcohol and toba...