Gestational Weight Gain and Exposure of Newborns to Persistent Organic Pollutants

Abstract

Background: Exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) during fetal development can increase the risk of adverse health effects during childhood. Maternal characteristics and physiological changes during gestation, such as gestational weight gain (GWG), may have an influence in the overall burden of POPs in neonates. However, the associations between GWG and POP concentrations are still not well established.Objective: We examined the association of GWG with cord serum POPs concentrations after adjusting for prepregnancy maternal body mass index (BMI) and other potential determinants of the transfer of POPs into newborns. The GWG values were evaluated after grouping by the reference guidelines of the Institute of Medicine (IOM).Methods: We measured levels of 14 organochlorine pesticides, 7 polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), and 14 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in 325 cord serum samples from a Spanish birth cohort. Multivariable models were used to estimate associations of GWG, prepregnancy BMI, and other maternal determinants on cord serum concentrations of POPs.Results: Neonatal concentrations of POPs were inversely associated with GWG after adjustment for age, prepregnancy BMI, educational level, and fish consumption. On average, neonates of women with IOM-recommended GWG have lower POP concentrations than do neonates of mothers with inadequate GWG.Conclusions: The present findings suggest an association between neonatal exposure to POPs and inadequate GWG during pregnancy. Encouraging pregnant women to meet the recommended IOM guidelines for GWG may reduce the accumulation of POPs in newborns.Citation: Vizcaino E, Grimalt JO, Glomstad B, Fernández-Somoano A, Tardón A. 2014. Gestational weight gain and exposure of newborns to persistent organic pollutants. Environ Health Perspect 122:873–879; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1306758

Prenatal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants and Anogenital Distance in Children at 18 Months

“…Vizcaino et al [33] have suggested an association between prenatal exposure to POPs and inadequate gestational weight gain. While few reports on the possible effects of POP exposure on fetal growth have been published to date, some evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to these compounds could be associated with disturbed hormone levels during pregnancy [34-36].…”

Prenatal exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and risk of being born small for gestational age: Pooled analysis of seven European birth cohorts

“…Maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) will dilute the EDC concentrations in maternal blood and is also overall positively associated with birth weight of the child, and may therefore be a confounder of the associations between EDCs and birth weight (Verner et al, 2013). Associations between GWG and cord serum concentrations of ΣPCBs, 4,4′-DDE and HCB have been reported (Vizcaino et al, 2014). We evaluated whether GWG confounded the associations of the EDCs with SGA in the subset of the pooled data having information on GWG (Table 1).…”

Drivers of the accumulation of mercury and organochlorine pollutants in Mediterranean lean fish and dietary significance

“…Fish consumption has been associated to human accumulation of mercury (Hg) and organochlorine pesticides (Llop et al, 2010;Gascon et al, 2012Gascon et al, , 2013Garí et al, 2013;Vizcaino et al, 2014;Costa et al, 2016;Bravo et al, 2017). Despite their different origin and structure, OCs and Hg share common properties such as (I) strong chemical stability and environmental persistence, (II) bioconcentration in living organisms and biomagnification through the food chain due to their hydrophobic character and (III) toxicity for humans and wild animals.…”

“…Accordingly, the production and use of OCs and Hg has been restricted and/or banned in many countries. However, these contaminants are still found in the environmental compartments (Arellano et al, 2011;Lamborg et al, 2014), foodstuff (Martí-Cid et al, 2010;Olmedo et al, 2013) and human tissues (Vizcaino et al, 2014;Garí et al, 2013).…”