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Pesticide exposure, birth size, and gestational age in the ISA birth cohort, Costa Rica
Berna van Wendel de Joode1, Jorge Peñaloza-Castañeda1, Ana M Mora1,2
1Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) Program, Central American Institute for Studies on Toxic Substances (IRET), Universidad Nacional, Heredia, Costa Rica.
Insights
Prenatal exposure to certain pesticides, including chlorpyrifos and 2,4-D, may negatively impact fetal growth, leading to lower birth weight and smaller head circumference in newborns. Gestation length was not affected by these exposures.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Perinatal Epidemiology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals is a growing concern for child health.
- Pesticides are widely used, and understanding their impact on fetal development is crucial.
- The Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) study in Costa Rica investigates these associations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between prenatal pesticide exposure and birth outcomes in newborns.
- To assess the association between specific pesticide biomarkers and birth size measures (weight, length, head circumference) and gestation length.
- To identify potential risks to fetal growth from common pesticide exposures during pregnancy.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of maternal urinary biomarkers for pesticides including chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, mancozeb, pyrimethanil, and 2,4-D.
- Inclusion of 386 singleton liveborn newborns with birth outcome data.
- Application of multivariate linear regression and generalized additive models to assess exposure-outcome associations.
Main Results:
- Higher prenatal levels of 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP, a chlorpyrifos metabolite) were associated with lower birth weight and smaller head circumference in term newborns.
- Prenatal 2,4-D exposure was linked to lower birth weight, smaller head circumference, and shorter body length in term newborns.
- Ethylene thiourea (ETU, a mancozeb metabolite) showed a nonlinear association with head circumference; pyrethroids and pyrimethanil were not associated with birth size, and no pesticides affected gestation length.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos and 2,4-D may adversely affect fetal growth.
- Mancozeb/ETU exposure might also play a role in impairing fetal development.
- Further research is needed to fully understand the impact of pesticide exposure on birth outcomes.
Purpose:
To examine associations of prenatal biomarkers of pesticide exposure with birth size measures and length of gestation among newborns from the Infants' Environmental Health (ISA) birth cohort, Costa Rica.
Methods:
We included 386 singleton liveborn newborns with data on birth size measures, length of gestation, and maternal urinary biomarkers of chlorpyrifos, synthetic pyrethroids, mancozeb, pyrimethanil, and 2, 4-D during pregnancy. We associated biomarkers of exposure with birth outcomes using multivariate linear regression and generalized additive models.
Results:
Concentrations were highest for ethylene thiourea (ETU, metabolite of mancozeb), median = 3.40; p10-90 = 1.90-6.79 µg/L, followed by 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinol (TCP, metabolite of chlorpyrifos) p50 = 1.76 p10-90 = 0.97-4.36 µg/L, and lowest for 2,4-D (p50 = 0.33 p10-90 = 0.18-1.07 µg/L). Among term newborns (≥37 weeks), higher prenatal TCP was associated with lower birth weight and smaller head circumference (e.g., β per 10-fold-increase) during the second half of pregnancy = -129.6 (95% confidence interval [CI] = -255.8, -3.5) grams, and -0.61 (95% CI = -1.05, -0.17) centimeters, respectively. Also, among term newborns, prenatal 2,4-D was associated with lower birth weight (β per 10-fold-increase = -125.1; 95% CI = -228.8, -21.5), smaller head circumference (β = -0.41; 95% CI = -0.78, -0.03), and, during the second half of pregnancy, with shorter body length (β = -0.58; 95% CI = -1.09, -0.07). Furthermore, ETU was nonlinearly associated with head circumference during the second half of pregnancy. Biomarkers of pyrethroids and pyrimethanil were not associated with birth size, and none of the biomarkers explained the length of gestation.
Conclusions:
Prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos and 2,4-D, and, possibly, mancozeb/ETU, may impair fetal growth.
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