Association of maternal serum concentrations of 2,2', 4,4'5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p,p'-DDE) levels with birth weight, gestational age and preterm births in Inuit and European populations

• Published in: Environmental Health
• Main Authors: Wojtyniak, Bogdan J, Rabczenko, Daniel, Jönsson, Bo A G, Zvezday, Valentyna, Pedersen, Henning S, Rylander, Lars, Toft, Gunnar, Ludwicki, Jan K, Góralczyk, Katarzyna, Lesovaya, Anna, Hagmar, Lars, Bonde, Jens Peter
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Biological Markers; Birth Weight; Cohort Studies; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene; Environmental Pollutants; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Gestational Age; Greenland; Humans; Hydrocarbons; Chlorinated; Infant; Newborn; Premature; Inuits; Male; Maternal Exposure; Poland; Pregnancy; Pregnant Women; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Ukraine; inuit; inuits
• Online Access: https://pure.au.dk/portal/da/publications/association-of-maternal-serum-concentrations-of-22-4455hexachlorobiphenyl-cb153-and-11dichloro22bis-pchlorophenylethylene-ppdde-levels-with-birth-weight-gestational-age-and-preterm-births-in-inuit-and-european-populations(07379726-27f1-45ba-8e5f-c9e3aa8e6b21).html; https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069X-9-56

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies on the association between maternal exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and fetal growth alteration report inconsistent findings which weights in favor of additional studies. METHODS: Blood samples were collected from interviewed pregnant women in Greenland (572), Kharkiv (611) and Warsaw (258) and were analyzed for CB-153 and p,p'-DDE by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Data on birth weight, gestational age and preterm birth were obtained for 1322 singleton live births. We examined the association between natural log-transformed serum POPs concentration and birth weight and gestational age using multiple linear regression and the association with prematurity using logistic regression controlling for potential confounding factors. RESULTS: The median serum concentrations of CB-153 and p,p'-DDE were for Inuit mothers 105.6 and 298.9, for Kharkiv mothers 27.0 and 645.4 and for Warsaw mothers 10.7 and 365.2 ng/g lipids, respectively. Increase in CB-153 concentration by one unit on the log scale in Inuit mothers serum was associated with significant decrease in infant birth weight of -59 g and gestational age by -0.2 week. Decreases observed in the cohorts in Kharkiv (-10 g and -0.1 week) and in Warsaw (-49 g and -0.2 week) were not statistically significant. Increase in p,p'-DDE concentration by one unit on the log scale was associated with a statistically significant decrease in infant birth weight of -39.4 g and -104.3 g and shortening of gestational age of -0.2 week and -0.6 week in the Inuit and Warsaw cohorts, respectively. In the Kharkiv cohort decrease in birth weight (-30.5 g) was not significant, however a shortening of gestational age of -0.2 week per increase in p,p'-DDE concentration by one unit on the log scale was of the borderline significance. There was no significant association between CB-153 and p,p'-DDE concentrations and risk of preterm birth however, in all cohorts the odds ratio was above 1. CONCLUSIONS: In utero exposure to POPs may reduce birth weight and gestational age of newborns however, new insights as to why results vary across studies were not apparent.