Abstract
Background: Fetal exposure to bisphenols and phthalates may lead to alterations in the respiratory and immune system development in children, and to adverse respiratory health. Aim: To study the associations of fetal bisphenols and phthalates exposure with lung function and asthma at age 13 years. Study design and methods: This study among 1020 children was embedded in a population-based prospective cohort study. We measured maternal urine bisphenol and phthalate concentrations in the first, second and third trimester of pregnancy, and lung function by spirometry and asthma by questionnaires at age 13 years. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were applied. Results: Maternal urine bisphenol and phthalate concentrations averaged during pregnancy were not associated with childhood lung function or asthma. Associations of maternal urine bisphenol and phthalate concentrations in specific trimesters with respiratory outcomes showed that one interquartile range increase in the natural log-transformed maternal urine mono-isobutyl phthalate concentration in the second trimester was associated with a higher FEV1/FVC, but not with asthma, accounting for confounders and multiple-testing correction. Although there were associations of higher second trimester bisphenol S with a lower FVC and FEV1 in boys and girls, and of higher first trimester bisphenol S with a decreased risk of asthma in boys and an increased risk of asthma in girls, these results did not remain significant after correction for multiple testing. Results were not modified by maternal history of asthma or atopy. Conclusions: Maternal urine bisphenol and phthalate concentrations averaged or in specific trimesters during pregnancy were not strongly associated with childhood lung function and asthma at age 13 years. BPS, as a BPA substitute, tended to be associated with impaired lung function and altered risk of asthma, partly sex-dependent, but its strength was limited by a relatively low detection rate and should be queried in contemporary cohorts.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 121853 |
| Journal | Environmental Pollution |
| Volume | 332 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The Generation R Study is made possible by financial support from the Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Erasmus University Rotterdam , and the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development. VJ and LD received funding for projects from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (LIFECYCLE, grant agreement No 733206 , 2016 ; EUCAN-Connect grant agreement No 824989 ; ATHLETE , grant agreement No 874583 ). The chemical analyses that made this possible were funded by grants RO1ES-022972 and RO1ES-029779 from the National Institutes of Health , USA . The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The funding sources had no involvement in the study design, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, the writing of the report and the decision to submit the article for publication.
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