Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and changes in infant growth and childhood growth trajectories

Anran Cai; Lützen Portengen; Eva Govarts; Laura Rodriguez Martin; Greet Schoeters; Juliette Legler; Roel Vermeulen; Virissa Lenters; Sylvie Remy

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137695

Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and changes in infant growth and childhood growth trajectories

Chemosphere. 2023 Feb:314:137695. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137695. Epub 2022 Dec 29.

Authors

Anran Cai¹, Lützen Portengen², Eva Govarts³, Laura Rodriguez Martin³, Greet Schoeters⁴, Juliette Legler², Roel Vermeulen⁵, Virissa Lenters⁶, Sylvie Remy³

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Department of Population Health Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium. Electronic address: a.cai@uu.nl.
² Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Department of Population Health Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
³ VITO Health, Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Mol, Belgium.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
⁵ Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Department of Population Health Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.
⁶ Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands.

PMID: 36587911
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137695

Abstract

Background: Children are born with a burden of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which may have endocrine disrupting properties and have been postulated to contribute to the rise in childhood obesity. The current evidence is equivocal, which may partly because many studies investigate the effects at one time point during childhood. We assessed associations between prenatal exposure to POPs and growth during infancy and childhood.

Methods: We used data from two Belgian cohorts with cord blood measurements of five organochlorines [(dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB-138, -150, -180)] (N = 1418) and two perfluoroalkyl substances [perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)] (N = 346). We assessed infant growth, defined as body mass index (BMI) z-score change between birth and 2 years, and childhood growth, characterized as BMI trajectory from birth to 8 years. To evaluate associations between POP exposures and infant growth, we applied a multi-pollutant approach, using penalized elastic net regression with stability selection, controlling for covariates. To evaluate associations with childhood growth, we used single-pollutant linear mixed models with random effects for child individual, parametrized using a natural cubic spline formulation.

Results: PCB-153 was associated with increased and p,p'-DDE with decreased infant growth, although these results were imprecise. No clear association between any of the exposures and longer-term childhood growth trajectories was observed. We did not find evidence of effect modification by child sex.

Conclusion: Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to PCB-153 and p,p'-DDE may affect infant growth in the first two years, with no evidence of more persistent effects.

Keywords: Childhood growth trajectory; Infant growth; Longitudinal study; Multi-pollutant; Organochlorines; Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances.

MeSH terms

Child
Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene
Environmental Pollutants* / analysis
Female
Humans
Infant
Pediatric Obesity*
Persistent Organic Pollutants
Polychlorinated Biphenyls* / toxicity
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects* / chemically induced

Substances

2,4,5,2',4',5'-hexachlorobiphenyl
Persistent Organic Pollutants
Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene
Polychlorinated Biphenyls
Environmental Pollutants