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Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and rapid weight gain and overweight in infancy

Damaskini Valvi1, Michelle Ann Mendez, Raquel Garcia-Esteban

  • 1Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; Hospital de Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiologia y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Barcelona, Spain; Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Pompeu Fabra University (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.

Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
|August 22, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal exposure to dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and hexachlorobenzene (HCB) may increase rapid infant growth and overweight risk. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) showed no association with postnatal growth in this study.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Pediatrics
  • Toxicology

Background:

  • Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are environmental contaminants with potential health implications.
  • Prenatal exposure to POPs is a growing concern for child development.
  • Understanding the impact of POPs on early growth is crucial for public health.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between prenatal exposure to specific POPs and infant growth.
  • To determine if prenatal POPs exposure influences the risk of overweight in early childhood.

Main Methods:

  • A Spanish birth cohort study measured dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in maternal serum.
  • Rapid growth was defined by z-score weight gain, and overweight by BMI z-score at 14 months.
  • Generalized linear models were used to analyze POPs associations with growth and overweight outcomes.

Main Results:

  • Prenatal DDE and HCB exposure were positively associated with rapid infant growth.
  • DDE and HCB were also linked to an increased risk of overweight at 14 months.
  • Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) did not show a significant association with postnatal growth.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal exposure to DDE and HCB may contribute to accelerated early postnatal growth and overweight.
  • Further research is warranted to explore the long-term effects of these POPs on child development.
  • Infant sex, breastfeeding, and maternal BMI may modify the observed POPs-growth associations.
Abstract

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