Prenatal Phthalate, Perfluoroalkyl Acid, and Organochlorine Exposures and Term Birth Weight in Three Birth Cohorts: Multi-Pollutant Models Based on Elastic Net Regression.
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ABSTRACT: Background
Some legacy and emerging environmental contaminants are suspected risk factors for intrauterine growth restriction. However, the evidence is equivocal, in part due to difficulties in disentangling the effects of mixtures.Objectives
We assessed associations between multiple correlated biomarkers of environmental exposure and birth weight.Methods
We evaluated a cohort of 1,250 term (≥ 37 weeks gestation) singleton infants, born to 513 mothers from Greenland, 180 from Poland, and 557 from Ukraine, who were recruited during antenatal care visits in 2002-2004. Secondary metabolites of diethylhexyl and diisononyl phthalates (DEHP, DiNP), eight perfluoroalkyl acids, and organochlorines (PCB-153 and p,p´-DDE) were quantifiable in 72-100% of maternal serum samples. We assessed associations between exposures and term birth weight, adjusting for co-exposures and covariates, including prepregnancy body mass index. To identify independent associations, we applied the elastic net penalty to linear regression models.Results
Two phthalate metabolites (MEHHP, MOiNP), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), and p,p´-DDE were most consistently predictive of term birth weight based on elastic net penalty regression. In an adjusted, unpenalized regression model of the four exposures, 2-SD increases in natural log-transformed MEHHP, PFOA, and p,p´-DDE were associated with lower birth weight: -87 g (95% CI: -137, -340 per 1.70 ng/mL), -43 g (95% CI: -108, 23 per 1.18 ng/mL), and -135 g (95% CI: -192, -78 per 1.82 ng/g lipid), respectively; and MOiNP was associated with higher birth weight (46 g; 95% CI: -5, 97 per 2.22 ng/mL).Conclusions
This study suggests that several of the environmental contaminants, belonging to three chemical classes, may be independently associated with impaired fetal growth. These results warrant follow-up in other cohorts.
SUBMITTER: Lenters V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4786980 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundExperimental animal studies and limited epidemiologic evidence suggest that prenatal exposure to phthalates may be obesogenic, with potential sex-specific effects of phthalates having anti-androgenic activity.ObjectivesWe aimed to assess associations between prenatal phthalate exposures and childhood fat mass in a prospective cohort study.MethodsWe measured phthalate metabolite concentrations in third-trimester maternal urine in a cohort of women enrolled in New York City between 1998 and 2002 (n = 404). Among 180 children (82 girls and 98 boys), we evaluated body composition using a Tanita scale at multiple follow-up visits between ages 4 and 9 years (363 total visits). We estimated associations of standard deviation differences or tertiles of natural log phthalate metabolite concentrations with percent fat mass using linear mixed-effects regression models with random intercepts for repeated outcome measurements. We assessed associations in multiple metabolite models and adjusted for covariates including prepregnancy body mass index, gestational weight gain, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and breastfeeding.ResultsWe did not observe associations between maternal urinary phthalate concentrations and percent body fat in models examining continuous exposures. Fat mass was 3.06% (95% CI: -5.99, -0.09%) lower among children in the highest tertile of maternal urinary concentrations of summed di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (ΣDEHP) metabolites than in children in the lowest tertile. Though estimates were imprecise, there was little evidence that associations between maternal urinary phthalate concentrations and percent fat mass were modified by child's sex.ConclusionsPrenatal phthalate exposures were not associated with increased body fat among children 4-9 years of age, though high prenatal DEHP exposure may be associated with lower fat mass in childhood.CitationBuckley JP, Engel SM, Mendez MA, Richardson DB, Daniels JL, Calafat AM, Wolff MS, Herring AH. 2016. Prenatal phthalate exposures and childhood fat mass in a New York City cohort. Environ Health Perspect 124:507-513; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1509788.
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Project description:Background:Prenatal perfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure has been associated with reduced birth weight and excess child adiposity, but the relationship between PFAS and early life growth is unknown. Objective:To determine if prenatal PFAS exposure was associated with birth weight, body composition and growth until 2 years of age. Methods:In a prospective cohort of women and their children from Cincinnati, OH, we quantified perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) in pregnant women's serum. We used linear regression to estimate associations of PFAS with birth weight z-scores (n=345) and linear mixed models to estimate associations with repeated weight and length/height measurements (n=334) at ages 4 weeks and 1 and 2 years, after adjusting for sociodemographic, perinatal, nutritional, and environmental factors. Results:We found non-significant inverse associations between PFAS and infant birth weight. For example, each log2 increase in PFOA was associated with a 0.03 standard deviation reduction in birth weight z-score (95% CI:-0.17, 0.10). Compared to associations with birth weight, we observed stronger associations between PFAS and child anthropometry from 4 weeks to 2 years. For instance, each log2 increase in PFOA was associated with a 0.12 standard deviation decrease in BMI z-score (95% CI: -0.25, 0.01). We did not observe any differences in growth rate associated with PFAS. Conclusion:We observed inverse associations between prenatal serum PFAS concentrations and anthropometry until age 2 years. Prenatal serum PFAS concentrations were not associated with growth rate in the first 2 years of life.
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Project description:BACKGROUND:Phthalate exposure is widespread. Prior research suggests that prenatal phthalate exposure may influence birth size and gestational duration, but published results have been inconsistent. OBJECTIVE:We quantified the relationship between maternal urinary phthalate concentrations and infant birth weight z-scores, length, head circumference, and gestational duration. METHODS:In a cohort of 368 women from the HOME Study, based in Cincinnati, OH, we measured nine phthalate metabolites representing exposure to six parent phthalate diesters in urine collected at approximately 16 and 26 weeks gestation. Infant birth size and gestational duration were abstracted from medical records. We used multivariable linear regression to estimate covariate adjusted associations between urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and infant outcomes. RESULTS:In unadjusted models, we observed a negative association between monoethyl phthalate (MEP) and birth weight z-scores, while mono-3-carboxypropyl phthalate (MCPP) was positively associated with gestational duration. After covariate adjustment, phthalate metabolite concentrations were no longer associated with birth size or gestational duration. CONCLUSIONS:In this cohort, urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations during pregnancy were not associated with infant birth size or gestational duration. Additional research is needed to determine if exposures during earlier periods of fetal development are associated with infant health.
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