Their report is published in the April issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology. TGA is a relatively rare heart defect that occurs in approximately 1 infant for every 10,000 babies that are born, Loffredo told Reuters Health in an interview. The ailment, which can often be corrected with surgery, causes the aorta and the pulmonary artery to become switched, Loffredo explained. Normally, the aorta brings oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body, and the pulmonary artery carries oxygenless blood from the heart to the lungs.
More study is needed to confirm the findings.
A woman who has a child with a birth defect may be more likely to remember and report exposure to a chemical than a woman who has a healthy infant. The women reported primarily home and garden exposures as opposed to workplace exposure, he noted. In their study, Loffredo's team evaluated 1,832 cases of congential heart defects in infants born between 1987 and 1989. There were 66 infants born with TGA and they were compared with 771 healthy infants. To evaluate possible causes, the mothers of the babies in both groups filled out questionnaires that assessed a variety of environmental and lifestyle factors.