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

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

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Article number	137695
Number of pages	8
Journal	Chemosphere
Volume	314
Early online date	29 Dec 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137695
Publication status	Published - Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement GOLIATH (No. 825489 ), EXPANSE (No. 874627 ) and supported by Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) with grant agreement EXPOSOME-NL (No. 024.004.017 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors

Keywords

Childhood growth trajectory
Infant growth
Longitudinal study
Multi-pollutant
Organochlorines
Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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Cite this

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title = "Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and changes in infant growth and childhood growth trajectories",

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",

author = "Anran Cai and L{\"u}tzen Portengen and Eva Govarts and Martin, {Laura Rodriguez} and Greet Schoeters and Juliette Legler and Roel Vermeulen and Virissa Lenters and Sylvie Remy",

note = "Funding Information: This work was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement GOLIATH (No. 825489 ), EXPANSE (No. 874627 ) and supported by Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) with grant agreement EXPOSOME-NL (No. 024.004.017 ). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 The Authors",

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month = feb,

doi = "10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.137695",

language = "English",

volume = "314",

journal = "Chemosphere",

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T1 - Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and changes in infant growth and childhood growth trajectories

AU - Cai, Anran

AU - Portengen, Lützen

AU - Govarts, Eva

AU - Martin, Laura Rodriguez

AU - Schoeters, Greet

AU - Legler, Juliette

AU - Vermeulen, Roel

AU - Lenters, Virissa

AU - Remy, Sylvie

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement GOLIATH (No. 825489 ), EXPANSE (No. 874627 ) and supported by Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) with grant agreement EXPOSOME-NL (No. 024.004.017 ). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

PY - 2023/2

Y1 - 2023/2

N2 - 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.

AB - 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.

KW - Childhood growth trajectory

KW - Infant growth

KW - Longitudinal study

KW - Multi-pollutant

KW - Organochlorines

KW - Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances

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

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

UN SDGs

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