Background: Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates may affect fetal growth; however, previous findings are inconsistent and based on few studies.
Objectives: We assessed whether prenatal exposure to BPA and phthalates was associated with fetal growth in a Spanish birth cohort of 488 mother–child pairs.
Methods: We measured BPA and eight phthalates [four di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites (DEHPm), mono-benzyl phthalate (MBzP), and three low-molecular-weight phthalate metabolites (LMWPm)] in two spot-urine samples collected during the first and third trimester of pregnancy. We estimated growth curves for femur length (FL), head circumference (HC), abdominal circumference (AC), biparietal diameter (BPD), and estimated fetal weight (EFW) during pregnancy (weeks 12–20 and 20–34), and for birth weight, birth length, head circumference at birth, and placental weight.
Results: Overall, results did not support associations of exposure to BPA or DEHPm during pregnancy with fetal growth parameters. Prenatal MBzP exposure was positively associated with FL at 20–34 weeks, resulting in an increase of 3.70% of the average FL (95% CI: 0.75, 6.63%) per doubling of MBzP concentration. MBzP was positively associated with birth weight among boys (48 g; 95% CI: 6, 90) but not in girls (–27 g; 95% CI: –79, 25) (interaction p-value = 0.04). The LMWPm mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP) was negatively associated with HC at 12–20 pregnancy weeks [–4.88% of HC average (95% CI: –8.36, –1.36%)].
Conclusions: This study, one of the first to combine repeat exposure biomarker measurements and multiple growth measures during pregnancy, finds little evidence of associations of BPA or phthalate exposures with fetal growth. Phthalate metabolites MBzP and MnBP were associated with some fetal growth parameters, but these findings require replication.
1Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), Barcelona, Spain; 2Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain; 3CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; 4Department of Analytical Chemistry, University of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain; 5ISGlobal, Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic–Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 6Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria de Granada (Granada.ibs), University of Granada, Granada, Spain; 7Foundation for the Promotion of Health and Biomedical Research in the Valencian Region, FISABIO/CSISP, Valencia, Spain; 8Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain; 9Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
Recommended Citation:
Maribel Casas,1,2,et al. Exposure to Bisphenol A and Phthalates during Pregnancy and Ultrasound Measures of Fetal Growth in the INMA-Sabadell Cohort[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2016-01-01,Volume 124(Issue 4):521