Abstract
Background Potential sources of environmental pollution, such as incinerators or landfill sites, can adversely affect reproduction and/or development. Time to pregnancy (TTP) is a validated measure of biological fertility that can be studied with relatively small populations. Methods Pregnant local residents living within 3 km of a landfill site (?exposed? group, n = 200) or elsewhere in the Rhondda valleys (?unexposed? group, n = 400) were interviewed by health visitors or midwives. The response rate was 83%. Results No difference was found in the TTP distributions between the exposed and unexposed groups. Relationships of TTP with covariates were consistent with the literature. Conclusions In a context of public and scientific concern about possible reproductive toxicity, an interview study of TTP was highly acceptable to local women. A large enough sample to generate stable TTP distributions was readily achieved.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 178-185 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Public Health |
Volume | 30 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2008 |
Keywords
- Environmental epidemiology ; Fertility ; Fecundity ; Landfill ; Reproduction ; Time to pregnancy