Prenatal Phthalate Exposure and Child Weight and Adiposity from in Utero to 6 Years of Age
Year: 2022
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Background: Prenatal phthalate exposure has been associated with lower birth weight but also higher weight in childhood. Few studies have examined weight or adiposity from birth to childhood and thus cannot assess growth trajectories associated with exposure. Objective: We assessed associations between maternal phthalate exposures in pregnancy and child weight and adiposity measured prenatally through childhood (3–6 years of age). Methods: Within The Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES), a prospective pregnancy cohort, we analyzed a panel of phthalate metabolites in urine collected at two visits from early and late gestation (N=780). We estimated average phthalate metabolite associations with child weight z-scores from ∼20wk gestation (estimated by ultrasound), birth, and 1, 3, 4, and 6 years of age using linear mixed-effects (LME) models. We also modeled associations with adiposity z-scores from birth (weight for length) and 1, 3, 4, and 6 years of age [body mass index (BMI)] using LME models. Results: For weight, we observed inverse associations between several phthalate metabolites and birth weight z-scores, but no associations were observed with postnatal weight z-scores in LME models. Regarding adiposity, we observed inverse associations between phthalate metabolites and weight-for-length z-scores at birth, but positive associations were observed with BMI z-scores at 3–4 years of age in LME models. For example, mono-ethyl phthalate was associated with a 0.17-unit decrease in birth weight-for-length z-score [95% confidence interval (CI): –0.29, –0.05] and a 0.18-unit increase in 4-years-of-age BMI z-score (95% CI: 0.04, 0.32). Discussion: We observed associations between prenatal exposure to phthalates and lower weight at birth but not at childhood follow-up visits. However, for adiposity, we observed an interesting pattern of association with low adiposity at delivery as well as high adiposity at 3–4 years of age. Although it is not clear from our results whether these associations occur within the same children, such a pattern of adiposity in early life has been linked to cardiometabolic disease in adulthood and deserves special attention as an outcome in the study of prenatal exposures in the developmental origins of health and disease. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP10077
DOI: 10.1289/ehp10077
Institutions: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, National Institutes of Health, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University of Minnesota, University of California, San Francisco, New York University, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, University of Washington, Seattle Children's Research Institute
Language: English
Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $5,000
Awards: G1017297203, The Infant Development and the Environmental Study (TIDES), Phthalate and stressful life event exposures and pregnancy outcomes: The role of oxidative stress, G9000001270, Mount Sinai Center for Health and Environment Across the LifeSpan (HEALS), TIDES III: Endocrine Disruption, Hormones, and Sex Differences in Adolescent Airway Health, UNC Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility, Rutgers Center for Environmental Exposure and Disease (CEED), G979940031
OpenAlex ID: W4224294441