International Studies of Prenatal Exposure to Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Fetal Growth

Abstract

ObjectivesPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitously distributed human mutagens and carcinogens. However, lack of adequate air monitoring data has limited understanding of the effects of airborne PAHs on fetal growth. To address this gap in knowledge, we examined the association between prenatal exposure to airborne PAHs and birth weight, birth length, and birth head circumference, respectively, in Krakow, Poland, and New York City (NYC).MethodsThe parallel prospective cohort studies enrolled nonsmoking, healthy, and nonoccupationally exposed women and their newborns. Personal air monitoring of pregnant women was conducted over 48 hr. To control for maternal environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure, we excluded those with umbilical cord plasma cotinine concentrations > 25 ng/mL. Mean cord plasma cotinine concentrations in both ethnic groups were ≤ 0.5 ng/mL.ResultsPrenatal PAH exposure was 10-fold higher in Krakow than in NYC. Prenatal PAH exposure was associated with significantly reduced birth weight in both Krakow Caucasians (p < 0.01) and in NYC African Americans (p < 0.01), controlling for known and potential confounders, but not in NYC Dominicans. Within the lower exposure range common to the two cities (1.80–36.47 ng/m3), the effect per unit PAH exposure on birth weight was 6-fold greater for NYC African Americans than for Krakow Caucasians (p = 0.01).ConclusionsThese results confirm the adverse reproductive effect of relatively low PAH concentrations in two populations and suggest increased susceptibility of NYC African Americans. Fetal growth impairment has been linked to child developmental and health problems. Thus, substantial health benefits would result from global reduction of PAH emissions.

Internal exposure to pollutants and body size in Flemish adolescents and adults: Associations and dose–response relationships

“…That the negative association with height persisted after additional correction for urinary creatinine suggests that this association was not simply due to higher creatinine levels in adolescents of greater height. Our findings are consistent with the negative association reported for prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and growth (Choi et al, 2006;Tang et al, 2006) and with the reported effect of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on cells of the skeletal system, adversely affecting growth (Holz et al, 2007).…”

“…PCBs are known to have estrogenic, anti-estrogenic and antiandrogenic activities (Bonefeld-Jorgensen et al, 2001); p,p'-DDE was reported to have antiandrogenic properties (Kelce et al, 1995); HCB was reported to affect oestradiol levels in animals (Alvarez et al, 2000;Foster et al, 1995) and to interact with hormone receptors (Li et al, 2008); cadmium was observed to be able to interact with both oestrogen and androgen receptors (Stoica et al, 2000;Martin et al, 2002); lead was reported to have xenoestrogenic activity (Martin et al, 2003) and to affect pubertal development in girls (Selevan et al, 2003); polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were reported to affect development (Choi et al, 2006) and display as well AhR as estrogen receptor-mediated activity (Hilscherova et al, 2000). We wanted to test the hypothesis that low differences in levels of internal exposure (such as these occurring in the general population in Flanders) to endocrine disrupting substances result in differences in body size parameters.…”

Smoking during pregnancy is associated with higher dietary intake of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and poor diet quality

“…Moreover, dietary BaP in the first trimester was associated with a small, but significant reduction in birth weight. Given this finding and previous evidence of possible adverse child health outcomes such as low birth weight and poor neurodevelopment associated with PAH exposure during pregnancy (8)(9)(10) , the dietary contribution to PAH exposure in this population -particularly in women already exposed to PAH via tobacco smoke -is of concern. In addition to smoking habits, older maternal age, primary-school education and Latin American origin were associated with higher dietary exposure to BaP.…”

The relationship between low birth weight and exposure to inhalable particulate matter

“…Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) have been shown to be associated Table 1 Descriptive analysis of the main variables included in the study (n = 57,392). with fetal growth problems in Cracow (Poland) and New York City (United States), particularly among Afro-Americans 24 . A study in Sydney (Australia) showed that low birth weight was associated with exposure to CO and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and with exposure to PM 10 in the second trimester 25 .…”