Water disinfectant byproducts don't harm fetus

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Contrary to what has been suggested in some studies, exposure to drinking water disinfection by-products (DBPs) does not seem to raise the risk of pregnancy loss, new research indicates.

The findings, which appear in the American Journal of Epidemiology for December, are based on an analysis of DBP exposure and pregnancy outcomes for 2,409 women. Tap water levels of DBPs were measured in distribution systems weekly or biweekly.

A total of 258 pregnancy losses occurred in the study group, Dr. David A. Savitz, from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and colleagues note.

There was no evidence that exposure to the DBPs trihalomethane or haloacetic acid increased the risk of pregnancy loss. In the overall analysis, total organic halide exposure was not linked to pregnancy loss, but some sporadic elevations in risk were seen with ingested total organic halide.

"These results provide some reassurance that drinking water DBPs in the range commonly encountered in the United States do not affect fetal survival," the researchers state.

"Relative to previous epidemiologic studies of this issue, the methods of this study are stronger and the evidence for an association weaker," they add.

SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology December 2006.