Background: Organophosphorous (OP) pesticides are associated with reduced fetal growth in animals, but human studies are inconsistent.
Objectives: We pooled data from four cohorts to examine associations of prenatal OP exposure with birth weight (n = 1,169), length (n = 1,152), and head circumference (n = 1,143).
Methods: Data were from the CHAMACOS, HOME, Columbia, and Mount Sinai birth cohorts. Concentrations of three diethyl phosphate (ΣDEP) and three dimethyl phosphate (ΣDMP) metabolites of OP pesticides [summed to six dialkyl phosphates (ΣDAPs)] were measured in maternal urine. Linear regression and mixed-effects models were used to examine associations with birth outcomes.
Results: We found no significant associations of ΣDEP, ΣDMP, or ΣDAPs with birth weight, length, or head circumference overall. However, among non-Hispanic black women, increasing urinary ΣDAP and ΣDMP concentrations were associated with decreased birth length (β = –0.4 cm; 95% CI: –0.9, 0.0 and β = –0.4 cm; 95% CI: –0.8, 0.0, respectively, for each 10-fold increase in metabolite concentration). Among infants with the PON1192RR genotype, ΣDAP and ΣDMP were negatively associated with length (β = –0.4 cm; 95% CI: –0.9, 0.0 and β = –0.5 cm; 95% CI: –0.9, –0.1).
Conclusions: This study confirms previously reported associations of prenatal OP exposure among black women with decreased infant size at birth, but finds no evidence of smaller birth weight, length, or head circumference among whites or Hispanics. Contrary to our hypothesis, we found stronger inverse associations of DAPs and birth outcome in infants with the less susceptible PON1192RR genotype. The large pooled data set facilitated exploration of interactions by race/ethnicity and PON1 genotype, but was limited by differences in study populations.
1Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health (CERCH), School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA; 2Department of Epidemiology, UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; 3Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA; 4Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; 5Department of Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA; 6Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; 7Department of Microbiology, and 8Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA; 9Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Recommended Citation:
Kim G. Harley,1 Stephanie M. Engel,2 Michelle G. Vedar,et al. Prenatal Exposure to Organophosphorous Pesticides and Fetal Growth: Pooled Results from Four Longitudinal Birth Cohort Studies[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2016-01-01,Volume 124(Issue 7):1084