Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union are reported to have both severe environmental contamination and increasing health problems, but hard data documenting these claims are scarce. Our goal was to examine some aspects of these claims and, if warranted, to examine relationships between contamination and health. Specifically, in two urban areas of Ukraine, we studied (1) contamination of a cohort of pregnant women with a panel of pollutants and (2) reproductive outcomes in this cohort and in the population from which they were drawn. Previous work on this project has shown that the contaminant concentrations seen in the Ukrainian women were generally comparable to or lower than those seen in other countries, with the exception of one or two organochlorines. Previous work has also shown that fetal mortality and preterm birth rates among liveborns were elevated. Work this year proceeded on several fronts. (1) We looked at characteristics of placental weight in this population, comparing weights seen in Ukraine to those seen previously in other countries. Little difference was noted. We also examined the relationship of placental weight to measures of infant size at birth, noting that placental weight appears to be an independent measure rather than simply a reflection of infant size. (2) We compared preterm birth rates in Ukraine to those in a parallel study in Avon County, England. Our previous comparisons to live-born preterm rates (the only rates commonly available from vital statistics collections) are not wholly satisfactory, as excluding still-borns can skew the picture. Since the same protocol was used in England and Ukraine, more appropriate comparisons can be done than are possible with vital statistics. Total preterm rates were similar in the two countries, but when preterms were split into those due to medical intervention and those occurring spontaneously, the spontaneous rate was much higher in Ukraine.
| Little, R E; Gladen, Beth C; Birmingham, Karen et al. (2004) Preterm birth rates in Avon County, England, and urban Ukraine. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 113:154-9 |
| Gladen, Beth C; Shkiryak-Nyzhnyk, Zoreslava A; Chyslovska, Nataliya et al. (2003) Persistent organochlorine compounds and birth weight. Ann Epidemiol 13:151-7 |
| Little, Ruth E; Zadorozhnaja, Tamara D; Hulchiy, Olesya P et al. (2003) Placental weight and its ratio to birthweight in a Ukrainian city. Early Hum Dev 71:117-27 |
| Little, Ruth E; Northstone, Kate; Golding, Jean et al. (2002) Alcohol, breastfeeding, and development at 18 months. Pediatrics 109:E72-2 |
| Sasco, Annie J; Laforest, Laurent; Benhaim-Luzon, Veronique et al. (2002) Smoking and its correlates among preadolescent children in France. Prev Med 34:226-34 |
| Monaghan, S C; Little, R E; Hulchiy, O et al. (2001) Risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth in two urban areas of Ukraine. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 15:123-30 |
| Little, R E; Little, A S; Chislovska, N et al. (2001) Hospital admissions during pregnancy in two urban areas of Ukraine. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 15:323-7 |
| Zadorozhnaja, T D; Little, R E; Miller, R K et al. (2000) Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, and zinc in human placentas from two cities in Ukraine. J Toxicol Environ Health A 61:255-63 |
| Monaghan, S C; Little, R E; Hulchiy, O et al. (2000) Preterm birth in two urban areas of Ukraine. Obstet Gynecol 95:752-5 |
| Gladen, B C; Zadorozhnaja, T D; Chislovska, N et al. (2000) Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in placenta. Hum Exp Toxicol 19:597-603 |
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