Gestational Pesticide Exposure and Child Respiratory Health

Childhood wheeze may be related to pesticide exposure, and diet and genetics (Paroxonase; PON1) may modify the effects of exposure.

We analyzed data from the HOME Study, a prospective pregnancy and birth cohort, to examine the association of gestational urinary organophosphate (OP) and pyrethroid (3PBA) metabolite concentrations with child wheeze, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) at ages 4 and 5 years, and wheeze trajectory patterns through age 8 years.

Among 367 singletons, the frequency of wheeze ranged from 10.6% to 24.1% at each measurement age. OP and 3PBA metabolite concentrations were not associated with wheeze at 8 years or from birth to 8 years, but there were three significant interactions: (1) maternal daily fruit and vegetable consumption (less than daily consumption and increasing 3PBA was associated with wheeze at age 8 years, OR = 1.40), (2) maternal PON1_- allele (CT/TT genotypes and high DE was associated with wheeze at age 8 years, OR = 2.13, 2.74) and (3) PON1 alleles (QR/RR genotypes with higher diethylphosphate (DE) and dialkyl phosphate (DAP) were associated with wheeze at age 8 years, OR = 3.84). Pesticide metabolites were not consistently related to FEV1 or wheeze trajectory.

Gestational OP and 3PBA metabolites were associated with child respiratory outcomes in participants with maternal dietary and genetic susceptibility.