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Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Pregnancy and Childhood Health Outcomes

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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Children's Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2021) | Viewed by 14238

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana

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Guest Editor

School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
Interests: pediatrics; endocrine disrupting chemicals; perinatal; epidemiology; environmental health; sex; hormone

Dr. Joseph Braun

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Guest Editor

Brown University, School of Public Health, Providence, United States
Interests: pediatrics; neurodevelopment; obesity; cardiometabolic disease; epidemiology; environmental health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Endocrine-disrupting chemical research in pediatric populations has grown exponentially over the past decade. While we have made significant advances in assessing exposure to a wide range of EDCs across the lifespan and taken remarkable steps to estimate the potential impact of EDC exposures on pediatric health outcomes, several areas remain underdeveloped or unexplored, including preconception exposures, adolescent health, sleep, mental health, and chronic diseases. We also recognize that numerous issues present barriers to making stronger causal inferences of these findings and enhancing the generalizability of our research. Finally, there are still significant gaps in our knowledge about the potential impacts of chemical mixtures and periods of heightened vulnerability/susceptibility. For this Special Issue of the International Journal of Environmental and Public Health Research, we focus on endocrine-disrupting chemicals and children’s health and welcome all papers related to this topical area. We especially encourage authors to contribute papers with a focus on unique health endpoints current methodologic challenges (e.g., mixtures) or novel methodologies (e.g., repeated measure designs).

Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana
Dr. Joseph Braun
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals
Pediatrics
Epidemiology
Methods
Susceptibility
Adolescence
Perinatal
Environmental health

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 3097 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Associations of Prenatal Exposure to Phthalates with Measures of Cognition in 4.5-Month-Old Infants

by Francheska M. Merced-Nieves, Kelsey L. C. Dzwilewski, Andrea Aguiar, Salma Musaad, Susan A. Korrick and Susan L. Schantz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1838; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041838 - 13 Feb 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2221

Abstract

The association of prenatal phthalate exposure with physical reasoning was assessed in 159 (78 female; 81 male) 4.5-month-old infants from a prospective cohort. Phthalate metabolites were quantified in urine from 16–18 gestational weeks and a pool of five urines from across pregnancy. Infants’ looking times to physically impossible and possible events were recorded via infrared eye-tracking. Infants that recognize that one of the events is impossible will look at that event longer. Associations of phthalate biomarkers with looking time differences (impossible–possible) were adjusted for maternal age, infant sex, and order of event presentation, and effect modification by infant sex was assessed. Each interquartile range (IQR) increase of monoethyl phthalate in the pooled sample was associated with females’ increased looking time (β = 1.0; 95%CI = 0.3, 1.7 s) to the impossible event. However, for males, an IQR increase in monoethyl phthalate at 16–18 weeks (β = −2.5; 95%CI = −4.4,−0.6 s), the sum of di(isononyl) phthalate metabolites in the pooled sample (β = −1.0; 95%CI = −1.8, −0.1 s), and the sum of all phthalate metabolites in both samples (β = −2.3; 95%CI = −4.4, −0.2 s) were associated with increased looking to the possible event, suggesting that higher prenatal phthalate exposure is associated with poorer physical reasoning in male infants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Pregnancy and Childhood Health Outcomes)

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18 pages, 6083 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Prenatal Exposure to Mixtures of Phthalates, Parabens, and Other Phenols and Obesity in Five-Year-Olds in the CHAMACOS Cohort

by Kimberly Berger, Carly Hyland, Jennifer L. Ames, Ana M. Mora, Karen Huen, Brenda Eskenazi, Nina Holland and Kim G. Harley

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1796; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041796 - 12 Feb 2021

Cited by 35 | Viewed by 5176

Abstract

Exposures to phthalates, parabens, and other phenols are often correlated due to their ubiquitous use in personal care products and plastics. Examining these compounds as a complex mixture may clarify inconsistent relationships between individual chemicals and childhood adiposity. Using data from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study, a longitudinal cohort of children in Salinas Valley, California (n = 309), we examined biomarkers of 11 phthalate metabolites and 9 phenols, including several parabens and bisphenol A, measured in maternal urine at two time points during pregnancy. We measured child height and weight at age five to calculate the body mass index (BMI) z-scores and overweight/obesity status. The association between prenatal urinary concentrations of biomarkers with the childhood BMI z-score and overweight/obesity status was analyzed using single-pollutant models and two mixture methods: Bayesian hierarchical modeling (BMH) and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR). Urinary concentrations of monoethyl phthalate, monocarboxy-isononly phthalate (metabolites of diethyl phthalate and di-isodecyl phthalate, respectively), and propylparaben were consistently associated with an increased BMI z-score and overweight/obesity status across all modeling approaches. Higher prenatal exposures to the cumulative biomarker mixture also trended with greater childhood adiposity. These results, robust across two methods that control for co-pollutant confounding, suggest that prenatal exposure to certain phthalates and parabens may increase the risk for obesity in early childhood. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Pregnancy and Childhood Health Outcomes)

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17 pages, 2060 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Gestational Exposure to Phthalates and Social Responsiveness Scores in Children Using Quantile Regression: The EARLI and HOME Studies

by Marisa A. Patti, Craig Newschaffer, Melissa Eliot, Ghassan B. Hamra, Aimin Chen, Lisa A. Croen, M. Daniele Fallin, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Geetika Kalloo, Jane C. Khoury, Bruce P. Lanphear, Kristen Lyall, Kimberly Yolton and Joseph M. Braun

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(3), 1254; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18031254 - 30 Jan 2021

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 3067

Abstract

Linear regression is often used to estimate associations between chemical exposures and neurodevelopment at the mean of the outcome. However, the potential effect of chemicals may be greater among individuals at the ‘tails’ of outcome distributions. Here, we investigated distributional effects on the associations between gestational phthalate exposure and child Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)-related behaviors using quantile regression. We harmonized data from the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) (n = 140) Study, an enriched-risk cohort of mothers who had a child with ASD, and the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study (n = 276), a general population cohort. We measured concentrations of 9 phthalate metabolites in urine samples collected twice during pregnancy. Caregivers reported children’s ASD-related behaviors using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) at age 3–8 years; higher scores indicate more ASD-related behaviors. In EARLI, associations between phthalate concentrations and SRS scores were predominately inverse or null across SRS score quantiles. In HOME, positive associations of mono-n-butyl phthalate, monobenzyl phthalate, mono-isobutyl phthalate, and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate concentrations with SRS scores increased in strength from the median to 95th percentile of SRS scores. These results suggest associations between phthalate concentrations and SRS scores may be stronger in individuals with higher SRS scores. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Pregnancy and Childhood Health Outcomes)

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12 pages, 6363 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Early Gestational Exposure to High-Molecular-Weight Phthalates and Its Association with 48-Month-Old Children’s Motor and Cognitive Scores

by Libni A. Torres-Olascoaga, Deborah Watkins, Lourdes Schnaas, John D. Meeker, Maritsa Solano-Gonzalez, Erika Osorio-Valencia, Karen E. Peterson, Martha María Tellez-Rojo and Marcela Tamayo-Ortiz

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(21), 8150; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17218150 - 4 Nov 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2897

Abstract

In utero phthalate exposure has been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders, nevertheless, trimester-specific susceptibility remains understudied. Our aim was to identify susceptible windows to the effects of gestational High-Molecular-Weight Phthalates (HMWP) exposure on 48 months’ neurodevelopment. We measured six HMWP metabolites (MEHP, MEHHP, MEOHP, MECPP, MBzP and MCPP) in urine samples collected during each trimester from women in the Early Life Exposure in Mexico to Environmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) cohort (n = 218). We assessed children’s motor (MS), cognitive (GCI) and memory (MeS) abilities using McCarthy Scales of Children’s Abilities (MSCA). We used linear regression models to examine associations between trimester-specific phthalate metabolites and MSCA scores, adjusted for sex, gestational age, breastfeeding, and maternal IQ. Although phthalate concentrations were similar across trimesters, first and second trimester phthalates were inversely associated with MS and GCI, with first trimester associations with MS being the strongest and statistically significant. Stronger associations were seen with MS and GCI among boys compared to girls, however interaction terms were not statistically significant. Our results suggest that early gestation is a sensitive window of exposure to HMWP for neurodevelopment, particularly in boys. Regulations on phthalate content in food as well as pregnancy consumption guidelines are necessary to protect future generations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in Pregnancy and Childhood Health Outcomes)

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