Urinary Concentrations of Bisphenol Mixtures during Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: The MAKE Study.

Bisphenols are endocrine disruptors that may be associated with altered fetal growth in humans, and they have similar biological functions to mimic hormones. In addition, aggregated chemicals showed an adverse effect although individual concentration was at a low level. However, most studies between bisphenols and birth outcomes have focused on the effect of individual bisphenol. Thus, we explored the associations of urinary bisphenol mixtures with birth outcomes. We conducted a prospective birth cohort study in South Korea. One hundred eighty mother-infant pairs were recruited from 2017 to 2019. Bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol F (BPF), and bisphenol S (BPS) in one spot urine were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. We used two statistical approaches to examine potential associations of BPA, BPF, and BPS with birth weight and gestational age: (1) multivariable linear regression; (2) Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). The geometric means of BPA, BPF, and BPS were 2.1, 0.2, and 0.1 µg/L, respectively. In stratified linear analyses by each median value, a higher BPF was positively associated with birth weight (g) (ß = 125.5; 95% CI: 45.0 to 205.9). Mixture analyses using BKMR suggested an inverse association between bisphenol mixtures and birth weight. Our findings suggest that in utero bisphenol exposure may influence birth weight and that such relationships may differ considering non-linearity and the combined effect.

Prenatal Exposure to Parabens Affects Birth Outcomes through Maternal Glutathione S-Transferase (GST) Polymorphisms: From the Mothers and Kids Environmental Health (MAKE) Study.

INTRODUCTION: Human exposure to parabens is very common in daily life, and prenatal exposure to these chemicals is associated with poor birth outcomes. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of glutathione S-transferase (GST) polymorphisms on the association between prenatal exposure to parabens and birth outcomes. METHODS: We conducted a multivariate analysis involving 177 subjects to determine the association between paraben concentrations and birth outcomes in mothers with GST mu 1 (GSTM1) and GST theta 1 (GSTT1) polymorphisms from 2017 to 2019. Furthermore, we determined the interactive effect between paraben levels and GSTM1/GSTT1 polymorphisms using regression analysis, in addition to a generalized linear model after stratifying GSTM1/GSTT1 genotype into three categories. RESULTS: Methyl and propyl paraben concentrations were significantly and positively associated with birth weight (methyl, ß = 116.525, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 22.460-210.590; propyl, ß = 82.352, 95% CI = 9.147-155.557) in individuals with the GSTM1-null genotype. Moreover, the propyl paraben concentration was significantly associated with an increase in gestational age (ß = 0.312, 95% CI = 0.085-0.539) in individuals with the GSTM1-null genotype. CONCLUSIONS: This study reported the association between prenatal paraben exposure and birth outcomes in individuals with GST polymorphisms. We found positive relationships of maternal exposure to methyl parabens with birth weight in both mothers with GSTM1 and GSTT1-null genotypes.

Environmental pollutants affecting children's growth and development: Collective results from the MOCEH study, a multi-centric prospective birth cohort in Korea.

BACKGROUND: The Mothers and Children's Environmental Health study (MOCEH) is a multi-centric prospective birth cohort study investigating effects of various environmental pollutants like heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, air pollutants, nutrition and lifestyle on birth outcomes, growth and development, health and disease of children. In this study, we report all the outcomes from the MOCEH study describing the different environmental pollutants affecting children's health and disease. METHODS: In MOCEH study, 1,751 pregnant women in their first trimester were recruited at 3 centers from 2006 to 2010 in South Korea. The children were followed from birth up to 6 years. Information on health outcomes of children including birth parameters, demographic characteristics, medical and child-rearing history, and nutritional status, were repeatedly obtained through the follow-ups by questionnaires administration, clinical evaluation, and biological specimen collection and measurements. Prenatal and postnatal measurement in biospecimen, i.e., lead, mercury, cadmium, manganese, 1-hydroxypyrene, 2-naphthol, malonadialdehyde, hippuric acid, bisphenol A and phthalate metabolites, and measurement in air samples, i.e., particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and total volatile organic compounds were performed. RESULTS: The results show the adverse effect of prenatal exposure to heavy metals like mercury, lead and cadmium on children's physical, cognitive and neurobehavioral development. Exposure to endocrine disruptors, air pollution, second hand smoke, and mother's lifestyle during pregnancy affects children's growth and development. We also identified specific window periods of exposure of pollutants significantly related to children's health outcomes. CONCLUSION: The collective results from MOCEH study provide strong scientific evidence that exposures to prenatal and postnatal environmental pollutants have a negative effect on growth and development of children, which will be useful in implementing effective national policy to improve children's environmental health.

Urinary bisphenol A and its analogues and haemato-biochemical alterations of pregnant women in Korea.

INTRODUCTION: Bisphenol F (BPF) and bisphenol S (BPS) are chemical substitutes for, and may have similar physiological effects to, bisphenol A (BPA). Bisphenols provoke endocrine disorders and are cytotoxic, oxidize hemoglobin, and induce morphological changes in human red blood cells (RBC). It is more sensitive to changes in the RBC number and hemoglobin (Hb) level during pregnancy. Therefore, we investigated the effects of bisphenols (BPs) and their substitute compounds on hemopoiesis and the serum biochemical parameters of pregnant women. METHODS: The study population comprised 196 pregnant women from the MAKE cohort study, recruitment for which occurred from 2017 to 2019. We measured the levels of BPA, BPF and BPS in urine samples and collected data on socioeconomic, lifestyle, and environmental factors at visits to the hospital. The associations between the levels of the three BPs and biochemical parameters were analyzed by multiple linear regression. RESULTS: The geometric mean urinary concentrations of specific gravity adjusted BPA, BPF, and BPS were 2.1, 0.2, and 0.1 µg/L, respectively. There was a significant negative association between the urinary concentration of BPA and the Hb level (ß = -0.5, p = 0.02). After stratifying by the median concentrations of the three BPs, the maternal urinary BPA level had a significantly negative effect on the RBC count, HB level, and hematocrit in the high BPA concentration group (RBC, ß = - 0.5, p = 0.001; Hb, ß = -1.4, p = 0.002; Hct, ß = -5.0, p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: BPA has a harmful effect on hemato-biochemical changes that occur during pregnancy. Further studies should investigate the relation between widespread exposure to bisphenols and effects on human health.

[BTEX exposure and its health effects in pregnant women following the Hebei Spirit oil spill].

OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the health effects of exposure to BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, m,p-Xylene, o-Xylene) in the Taean area after the Hebei Spirit oil spill. METHODS: We used a questionnaire survey to look for health effects among 80 pregnant women 2 to 3 months following the Hebei Spirit oil spill. Their BTEX exposures were estimated using the CALPUFF method. We then used a multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the effects of BTEX exposure on the women's health effets. RESULTS: Pregnant women who lived near the accident site reported more symptoms of eye irritation and headache than those who lived farther from the site. There was a trend of decreasing symptoms with an increase in distance from the spill site. Pregnant women exposed to higher ambient cumulative levels of Xylene were significantly more likely to report symptoms of the skin (OR 8.01 95% CI=1.74-36.76) in the first day after the accident and significantly more likely to report abdominal pain (OR 3.86 95% CI=1.02-14.59 for Ethylbenzene, OR 6.70 95% CI=1.82-24.62 for Xylene) during the 1st through 4th days following the accident. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that exposure to BTEX from an oil spill is correlated with an increased risk of health effects among pregnant women. This implies the need to take proper measures, including the development of a national policy for environmental health emergencies and a plan for studying the short- and long-term chronic health effects associated with such spills.