Ask A Scientist© Molecular Biology Archive

name        Michael
status      educator
age         40s

Question -  Is there any evidence that marijuana
use by the father can contribute to miscarriages in offspring?

A search in Medline did not come up with an article
that clearly stated a presence or absence of a
correlation between paternal marihuana use and
miscarriage. A general review on germ-cell mutations
due to lifestyle is published in 1994 of which I copy
the abstract below.

Mutat. Res. 1994;313(2-3):131-51

  Mutagenic lifestyles? A review of evidence of
associations between germ-cell mutations in humans and
smoking, alcohol consumption and  use of
'recreational' drugs.

International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon,
France.

In humans, associations between germ-cell mutations
and hypothetical aetiological factors can be
investigated by (1) examining the relationship between
the factor of interest and conditions known to  be of
genetic aetiology; (2) examining the relationship
between conditions of unknown aetiology and  route of
exposure, especially paternal preconceptional
exposure. As regards smoking, alcohol and
'recreational' drugs, the first approach has been
applied in studies of retinoblastoma, Wilms' tumour
and chromosomal anomalies. Only Down's syndrome has
received intensive investigation, in relation  to
maternal smoking during pregnancy; the relative risks
would be compatible with there being no association 
in all recognized conceptuses. The second
approach has been applied in studies of sperm quality,
miscarriage, congenital anomalies and childhood
cancer. The available studies do not show a consistent
relationship between smoking and sperm quality; there
are few data on the effects of the other exposures.
There are a substantial number of studies of childhood
cancer and smoking by the father; the majority do not
indicate any relationship. Some studies of childhood
cancer suggest a positive association with use of
'recreational' drugs by the parents, but it has not
been possible to clarify which route of exposure, or
the specific type of drug which may be involved. Use
of bmolecular techniques to detect individual genetic
changes should enable progress to be made in
elucidating the origin of mutation. In the meantime,
public health actions are justified on the basis of
the known non-genetic effects of these agents.

Trudy Wassenaar
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