Prenatal dietary exposure to chemicals and allergy or respiratory diseases in children in the EDEN mother-child cohort

Manel Ghozal; Manik Kadawathagedara; Rosalie Delvert; Karine Adel-Patient; Muriel Tafflet; Isabella Annesi-Maesano; Amélie Crépet; Véronique Sirot; Marie Aline Charles; Barbara Heude; Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2023.108195

Prenatal dietary exposure to chemicals and allergy or respiratory diseases in children in the EDEN mother-child cohort

Environ Int. 2023 Oct:180:108195. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108195. Epub 2023 Sep 12.

Affiliations

¹ Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Inserm, INRAE, Centre for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Paris, France. Electronic address: manel.ghozal@inserm.fr.
² Université Paris Cité and Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, Inserm, INRAE, Centre for Research in Epidemiology and StatisticS (CRESS), Paris, France.
³ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, Université Paris-Sud, Inserm, Équipe d'Épidémiologie Respiratoire Intégrative, CESP, 94805 Villejuif, France.
⁴ Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, INRAE, DMTS, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
⁵ Institute Desbrest of Epidemiology and Public Health (IDESP), Montpellier University and INSERM, Montpellier, France, Pneumology, Allergology and Thoracic Oncology Department, Montpellier University Hospital, Montpellier, France.
⁶ ANSES, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety, Risk Assessment Department, Methodology and Studies Unit, Maisons-Alfort, France.

PMID: 37734145
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2023.108195

Abstract

Introduction: Maternal exposure to food chemicals may increase the risk of allergy and respiratory disorders in offspring. We aimed to assess the association of prenatal dietary exposure to single chemicals and chemical mixtures with allergy or respiratory events reported before age 8 y in children.

Methods: We included 1428 mother-child pairs enrolled in the EDEN mother-child cohort. Maternal dietary exposure to 209 chemicals and eight associated mixtures was investigated. Allergic and respiratory diseases (wheezing, asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema and food allergy) were reported by parents between birth and age 8 y. Associations with the studied outcomes were evaluated with three approaches based on adjusted logistic regression, estimating odds ratios (ORs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs). First, food chemicals were considered individually, with correction for multiple testing. Second, chemicals selected by elastic net regression were considered simultaneously in a multiple exposure model. Third, predefined mixtures were introduced in the same adjusted logistic regression. Results are expressed as odds ratio (OR[95 % CI]).

Results: Prenatal single exposure to 74 food chemicals was associated with higher risk of allergic rhinitis. Prenatal single exposure to 11 chemicals was associated with higher risk of wheezing. In the multi-exposure approach, risk of wheezing was associated with the pesticides diazinon and triadimenol, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 5-methylchrysene. Phytoestrogen resveratrol was negatively associated with lower risk of both wheezing and allergic rhinitis, and mycotoxin monoacetoxyscirpenol was negatively associated with risk of eczema. Finally, a chemical mixture composed mainly of trace elements, furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, was associated with higher risk of allergic rhinitis (1.33 [1.02;1.73]).

Conclusion: Prenatal dietary exposure to chemicals was associated with risk of allergic rhinitis or wheezing up to age 8 y. A few chemicals were associated with other allergic and respiratory diseases. Larger prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Keywords: Allergy; Birth cohort; Food chemicals; Mixtures; Prenatal; Respiratory.