I am enrolled on the creative four day course and read this article yesterday in the daily mail and started to get a little worried as I am currently trying to get pregnant again and wondered if anyone knew about about it???
Can a job in a nail salon harm unborn babies?
by ROBIN YAPP, Daily Mail
12:12pm 5th October 2004
Women who work in a nail salon or dry cleaners while pregnant are at increased risk of having a child with learning difficulties, scientists have warned.
Exposure during pregnancy to solvents used in these workplaces may have long-lasting effects on a baby's development, a study shows.
Researchers found that children born to women who work in such jobs have lower IQs, more learning difficulties and are at greater risk of hyperactivity.
'Common feature'
Solvents are used in a wide range of nail care products as well as in dry cleaning to help avoid wrinkles and shrinkage of clothing.
In recent years, specialist nail salons offering manicures and pedicures have become a common feature of Britain's high streets.
Staff tend to be young women and many employ teenage girls who may work part-time while still at school, college or university.
Women working in medical laboratories, where they may clean certain materials, or manufacturing jobs involving paint and plastic adhesives, could also be exposed to solvents.
The findings suggest that, although children born to such women are no more likely to be of low birth weight or to suffer physical abnormalities, the true extent of the damage may only become known later in life.
"We found that the children of women exposed to solvents had significantly lower verbal cognitive functioning than the non-exposed children," said co-author Dr Maru Barrera, of The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto.
"We also saw inferior dexterity and greater inattention and hyperactivity in the exposed children.
Potential effects
"Each of these areas, combined or on its own, may pose challenges to these children academically and socially.
"If these children are not successful in facing these challenges during their early school years, they may risk not achieving their full potential at school, limiting their career choices later in life." Previous studies have shown that children born to mothers who sniff solvents during pregnancy are at increased risk of developmental delay or birth defects.
But little has been known about the potential effects of occupational exposure to toxic organic solvents, which are easily inhaled and can also penetrate the skin.
The new study looked at the children of 32 women who were exposed to solvents in the workplace for at least eight weeks during their pregnancy, including at least part of the first third of their term.
These mothers had been exposed to 78 different organic solvents for between one and 40 hours a week but said they had used protective equipment to reduce their exposure.
Their children were matched with youngsters born to women without any occupational exposure to solvents while pregnant, says a report in the journal The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Researchers set the children, aged between three and nine, a number of tests designed to assess their IQ, language skills and memory and their parents were asked to fill in questionnaires about their behaviour.
Youngsters who had been exposed to solvents in the womb were found to have verbal IQs eight points lower on average than the others.
They also found it more difficult to recall sentences as part of a short-term memory test, showed less developed language skills and had shorter attention spans.
The authors said further research was now needed into the effects of specific solvents and how they were influenced by different doses.
They said that, in the meantime, pregnant women should try to avoid exposure.
Their findings, however, relate only to occupational exposure.
They do not apply to women who may come into contact with solvents occasionally - for example, by visiting a nail salon or using glue.
Can a job in a nail salon harm unborn babies?
by ROBIN YAPP, Daily Mail
12:12pm 5th October 2004
Women who work in a nail salon or dry cleaners while pregnant are at increased risk of having a child with learning difficulties, scientists have warned.
Exposure during pregnancy to solvents used in these workplaces may have long-lasting effects on a baby's development, a study shows.
Researchers found that children born to women who work in such jobs have lower IQs, more learning difficulties and are at greater risk of hyperactivity.
'Common feature'
Solvents are used in a wide range of nail care products as well as in dry cleaning to help avoid wrinkles and shrinkage of clothing.
In recent years, specialist nail salons offering manicures and pedicures have become a common feature of Britain's high streets.
Staff tend to be young women and many employ teenage girls who may work part-time while still at school, college or university.
Women working in medical laboratories, where they may clean certain materials, or manufacturing jobs involving paint and plastic adhesives, could also be exposed to solvents.
The findings suggest that, although children born to such women are no more likely to be of low birth weight or to suffer physical abnormalities, the true extent of the damage may only become known later in life.
"We found that the children of women exposed to solvents had significantly lower verbal cognitive functioning than the non-exposed children," said co-author Dr Maru Barrera, of The Hospital for Sick Children and the University of Toronto.
"We also saw inferior dexterity and greater inattention and hyperactivity in the exposed children.
Potential effects
"Each of these areas, combined or on its own, may pose challenges to these children academically and socially.
"If these children are not successful in facing these challenges during their early school years, they may risk not achieving their full potential at school, limiting their career choices later in life." Previous studies have shown that children born to mothers who sniff solvents during pregnancy are at increased risk of developmental delay or birth defects.
But little has been known about the potential effects of occupational exposure to toxic organic solvents, which are easily inhaled and can also penetrate the skin.
The new study looked at the children of 32 women who were exposed to solvents in the workplace for at least eight weeks during their pregnancy, including at least part of the first third of their term.
These mothers had been exposed to 78 different organic solvents for between one and 40 hours a week but said they had used protective equipment to reduce their exposure.
Their children were matched with youngsters born to women without any occupational exposure to solvents while pregnant, says a report in the journal The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Researchers set the children, aged between three and nine, a number of tests designed to assess their IQ, language skills and memory and their parents were asked to fill in questionnaires about their behaviour.
Youngsters who had been exposed to solvents in the womb were found to have verbal IQs eight points lower on average than the others.
They also found it more difficult to recall sentences as part of a short-term memory test, showed less developed language skills and had shorter attention spans.
The authors said further research was now needed into the effects of specific solvents and how they were influenced by different doses.
They said that, in the meantime, pregnant women should try to avoid exposure.
Their findings, however, relate only to occupational exposure.
They do not apply to women who may come into contact with solvents occasionally - for example, by visiting a nail salon or using glue.
