New publications
Future father's occupation may influence the development of malformations in children
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Some professions of future fathers have been linked to an increased risk of congenital malformations in children. As reported by MyHealthNewsDaily, the study was conducted by an international group of specialists from the United States and the Netherlands, led by Andrew Olshan from the American University of North Carolina. A report on their work was published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Olshen and his colleagues examined data on 14,000 Americans born between 1997 and 2004. The researchers also conducted a telephone survey of the newborns' mothers, asking, among other things, where the babies' fathers worked before they were conceived.
According to the study, about ten thousand children were born with various developmental defects. A total of 60 types of congenital defects were registered. More than four thousand children were born healthy. The fathers were divided into 63 groups by their areas of employment, taking into account the possible impact of harmful production factors.
As the researchers found, about a third of professions were statistically not associated with any congenital malformations in children. This group included medical workers, architects, designers, fishermen, drivers of automobile and railway transport, military personnel, stonemasons, glassblowers, firefighters, as well as men employed in metallurgical production.
An increased risk of congenital cataracts, glaucoma and other visual defects was found in children of photographers and photo studio workers. Landscape designers and gardeners were more likely to have children with intestinal development disorders. Artists had an increased risk of having a child with defects of the eyes, ears, digestive tract, limbs and heart. In addition, an increased risk of congenital defects was recorded in the offspring of hairdressers, cosmetologists, sawmill workers, printing workers, oil and gas, chemical and food industries, as well as mathematicians, physicists and office workers.