Documents engine fuel 3 results

"OBJECTIVES: To assess the association between petrochemical exposure and spontaneous abortion, a retrospective epidemiological study in a large petrochemical complex in Beijing, China was conducted.METHODS: Plant employment records identified 3105 women who were married, were 20-44 years of age, and had never smoked. Of those, 3070 women (98.8%) reported at least one pregnancy. From this group, 2853 (93%) of the women participated in the study. According to their plant employment record, about 57% of these women workers reported occupational exposure to petrochemicals during the first trimester of their pregnancy. Trained interviewers administered a standardised questionnaire to this group of women and their husbands, collecting information on reproductive history, pregnancy outcomes, employment history, occupational exposure, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, indoor air pollution, and demographic variables. The results from the womens' first pregnancies were analysed.RESULTS: There was a significantly increased risk of spontaneous abortion for women working in all of the production plants with frequent exposure to petrochemicals (8.8%; range of 5.8%-9.8%) compared with those working in nonchemical plants (2.2%; range of 0.0%-7.1%). Also, when a comparison was made between exposed and non-exposed groups within each plant, exposure to petrochemicals was consistently associated with an increased risk of spontaneous abortion. The overall odds ratio (OR) was 2.7 (95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.8 to 3.9) after adjusting for potential confounders. When the analysis was performed with the exposure information obtained from the women' interview responses for (self reported) exposures, the estimated OR for spontaneous abortions was 2.9 (95% CI 2.0 to 4.0). The analysis was repeated by excluding those 452 women who provided inconsistent reports between recalled exposure and work history, and a comparable risk of spontaneous abortion (OR 2.9; 95% CI 2.0 to 4.4) was found. In analyses for exposure to specific chemicals, an increased risk of spontaneous abortion was found with exposure to most chemicals, and the results for benzene (OR 2.5; 95% CI 1.7 to 3.7), gasoline (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1 to 2.9), and hydrogen sulphide (OR 2.3; 95% CI 1.2 to 4.4) were significant.CONCLUSION: An increased risk of spontaneous abortion was found associated with the exposure to petrochemicals, including benzene, gasoline, and hydrogen sulphide."

"L'histoire vraie de l'essence plombée, une entreprise commerciale triste et sordide, rejoindrait tranquillement et sans faire de bruit les oubliettes de l'histoire si on laissait les capitaines d'industrie en faire à leur guise. Mais l'heure est venue de raconter cette histoire. Les aventuriers de l'essence plombée ont pollué le monde, à grande échelle, pour leur profit et, dans le même temps, ils ont servi de modèle aux industries de l'amiante, du nucléaire, du tabac et des pesticides, comme à d'autres acteurs économiques sans foi ni loi, en se cachant derrière le paravent de l'incertitude scientifique afin d'échapper à l'évidence accablante que leurs produits sont dangereux. "Jamie Lincoln Kitman. Publiée dans le magazine The Nation en 2000, l'enquête de Jamie Lincoln Kitman retrace un aspect largement ignoré de l'histoire économique et industrielle du XXe siècle : l'introduction délibérée du plomb dans l'essence et les manigances des grands groupes automobiles pour imposer son usage et dissimuler au public sa dangerosité pour l'homme et l'environnement. Intrigues, manipulations, ententes secrètes, pressions, chantages et procès se succèdent tout au long du siècle jusqu'à l'interdiction récente de l'essence plombée aux Etats-Unis et dans l'Union européenne. Mais l'histoire n'est pas finie car les industriels continuent de vendre en toute connaissance de cause leur produit dans les pays en voie de développement. "