Reproductive epidemiology in sulfonamide factory workers.

The reproductive performance of the wives of 300 men working in the pharmaceutical factory and exposed to sulfonamides was evaluated. The percentage of abortions, stillbirths, premature births, and live births among the wives of these workers and the frequency of congenital malformations in the offspring were recorded. The reproductive performance of 360 men and their wives who were not exposed to toxic chemicals, drugs, radiations, and so forth and who belonged to the same socioeconomic group served as the control population. There was a significant increase in the percentage of abortions and decrease in live births in the sulfonamide-exposed population when compared to controls.