Occupational exposure of midwives to nitrous oxide on delivery suites * Author's reply

Occupational exposure of midwives to nitrous oxide on delivery suites.

AIMS To compare environmental and biological monitoring of midwives for nitrous oxide in a delivery suite environment. METHODS Environmental samples were taken over a period of four hours using passive diffusion tubes. Urine measurements were taken at the start of the shift and after four hours. RESULTS Environmental levels exceeded the legal occupational exposure standards for nitrous oxid...

Exposure of midwives to nitrous oxide in four hospitals.

The exposure of midwives to nitrous oxide in four hospitals was measured with personal samplers. In three of the four hospitals the average exposure was not significantly less than 100 parts per million (ppm). In one hospital the average exposure was 360 ppm; this was reduced by a factor of about 2.5 when a trial scavenging system was used. Differences in working practices and in the layout, si...

Shift work, nitrous oxide exposure and subfertility among Swedish midwives.

BACKGROUND Shift work and nitrous oxide exposure have both been suspected of having adverse influence on the reproductive performance of health workers. Time to pregnancy has been suggested as a sensitive measure of fecundity in occupationally exposed groups. We investigated the effects of shift work and nitrous oxide exposure on the fertility of Swedish midwives. METHODS A questionnaire was ...

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