14 DAY TRIAL // A recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada found that men who paint for a living may expose their future offspring to increased risks for low birth weight and birth defects. The Canadian team involved in the research explained that long-term painters' unborn babies may be more likely to experience birth problems, due to the airborne exposure to substances/solvents commonly used for painting, such as cleansers, thinners and paints.
The study was co-authored by Dr. Igor Burstyn, Professor of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Alberta and researchers from Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center in the Netherlands. They conducted their study on 398 construction workers in the Netherlands who were employed as painters. While working as painters, workers' exposure to chemicals in useful substances was inevitable. The results from painters were then compared to tests taken from 302 carpenters who were little or not at all exposed to harmful compounds in organic solvents.
On the overall, the findings of the Canadian and Netherlander study showed that construction workers who have been employed as painters at least three months before their life partners became pregnant had about a 8 times higher risk of exposing their unborn infants to harmful chemicals. Consequently, the painters were 8 times more likely to have babies with birth defects and disorders as compared to their peers working as carpenters.
Dr. Igor Burstyn of the University of Alberta stated: "This is the first time we have good exposure data in such a study, but more robust investigations are needed to guide policy-makers. We need to evaluate and compare the influence of resulting solvent exposures on reproductive health."