TY - JOUR

T1 - Maternal exposure to airborne polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and risk of adverse birth outcomes

AU - Kofoed, Ane Bungum

AU - Deen, Laura

AU - Hougaard, Karin Sorig

AU - Petersen, Kajsa Ugelvig

AU - Meyer, Harald William

AU - Pedersen, Ellen Botker

AU - Ebbehoj, Niels Erik

AU - Heitmann, Berit Lilienthal

AU - Bonde, Jens Peter

AU - Tottenborg, Sandra Sogaard

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - Human health effects of airborne lower-chlorinated polychlorinated biphenyls (LC-PCBs) are largely unexplored. Since PCBs may cross the placenta, maternal exposure could potentially have negative consequences for fetal development. We aimed to determine if exposure to airborne PCB during pregnancy was associated with adverse birth outcomes. In this cohort study, exposed women had lived in PCB contaminated apartments at least one year during the 3.6 years before conception or the entire first trimester of pregnancy. The women and their children were followed for birth outcomes in Danish health registers. Logistic regression was performed to estimate odds ratios (OR) for changes in secondary sex ratio, preterm birth, major congenital malformations, cryptorchidism, and being born small for gestational age. We performed linear regression to estimate difference in birth weight among children of exposed and unexposed mothers. All models were adjusted for maternal age, educational level, ethnicity, and calendar time. We identified 885 exposed pregnancies and 3327 unexposed pregnancies. Relative to unexposed women, exposed women had OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.82, 1.15) for secondary sex ratio, OR 1.13 (95% CI 0.76, 1.67) for preterm birth, OR 1.28 (95% CI 0.81, 2.01) for having a child with major malformations, OR 1.73 (95% CI 1.01, 2.95) for cryptorchidism and OR 1.23 (95% CI 0.88, 1.72) for giving birth to a child born small for gestational age. The difference in birth weight for children of exposed compared to unexposed women was - 32 g (95% CI-79, 14). We observed an increased risk of cryptorchidism among boys after maternal airborne LC-PCB exposure, but due to the proxy measure of exposure, inability to perform dose-response analyses, and the lack of comparable literature, larger cohort studies with direct measures of exposure are needed to investigate the safety of airborne LC-PCB exposure during pregnancy

AB - Human health effects of airborne lower-chlorinated polychlorinated biphenyls (LC-PCBs) are largely unexplored. Since PCBs may cross the placenta, maternal exposure could potentially have negative consequences for fetal development. We aimed to determine if exposure to airborne PCB during pregnancy was associated with adverse birth outcomes. In this cohort study, exposed women had lived in PCB contaminated apartments at least one year during the 3.6 years before conception or the entire first trimester of pregnancy. The women and their children were followed for birth outcomes in Danish health registers. Logistic regression was performed to estimate odds ratios (OR) for changes in secondary sex ratio, preterm birth, major congenital malformations, cryptorchidism, and being born small for gestational age. We performed linear regression to estimate difference in birth weight among children of exposed and unexposed mothers. All models were adjusted for maternal age, educational level, ethnicity, and calendar time. We identified 885 exposed pregnancies and 3327 unexposed pregnancies. Relative to unexposed women, exposed women had OR 0.97 (95% CI 0.82, 1.15) for secondary sex ratio, OR 1.13 (95% CI 0.76, 1.67) for preterm birth, OR 1.28 (95% CI 0.81, 2.01) for having a child with major malformations, OR 1.73 (95% CI 1.01, 2.95) for cryptorchidism and OR 1.23 (95% CI 0.88, 1.72) for giving birth to a child born small for gestational age. The difference in birth weight for children of exposed compared to unexposed women was - 32 g (95% CI-79, 14). We observed an increased risk of cryptorchidism among boys after maternal airborne LC-PCB exposure, but due to the proxy measure of exposure, inability to perform dose-response analyses, and the lack of comparable literature, larger cohort studies with direct measures of exposure are needed to investigate the safety of airborne LC-PCB exposure during pregnancy

KW - PCB

KW - Lower chlorinated PCBs

KW - Airborne PCB

KW - Maternal exposure

KW - Birth outcomes

KW - Cryptorchidism

KW - PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS

KW - POLYBROMINATED DIPHENYL ETHERS

KW - PRENATAL EXPOSURE

KW - INDOOR AIR

KW - CAPACITOR WORKERS

KW - FETAL-GROWTH

KW - HALF-LIVES

KW - CONGENERS

KW - WEIGHT

KW - CONTAMINATION

U2 - 10.1007/s10654-021-00793-x

DO - 10.1007/s10654-021-00793-x

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 34420151

VL - 36

SP - 861

EP - 872

JO - European Journal of Epidemiology

JF - European Journal of Epidemiology

SN - 0393-2990

ER -