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Prenatal phthalate exposure and early childhood wheeze in the SELMA study

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 32, pages 303–311 (2022)Cite this article

Abstract

Background

Prenatal maternal phthalate exposure has been associated with wheeze and asthma in children, but results are inconclusive. Previous studies typically assessed exposure in late pregnancy, included only a small number of old phthalates, and assessed outcomes in children aged 5 years or older.

Objective

We explored associations between 1st trimester prenatal maternal exposure to a wider range of phthalates and wheeze in early childhood.

Methods

First trimester concentrations of 14 metabolites from 8 phthalates and one alternative plasticizer were quantified in first-morning void urine from 1148 mothers in the Swedish SELMA study. Associations between log-transformed metabolite concentrations and parental reported ever wheeze among 24-month-old children were investigated with logistic regression models adjusted for parental asthma/rhinitis, sex of child, maternal education, smoking, and creatinine.

Results

Metabolites of replacement phthalates di-iso-decyl phthalate (DiDP) and di-2-propylheptyl phthalate (DPHP) were associated with increased risk for wheeze (aOR 1.47, 95% CI 1.08-2.01 and aOR 1.49, 95% CI 1.04–2.15, respectively). The associations with DiDP and DPHP were stronger among children whose parents did not have asthma or rhinitis. In this group, wheeze was also associated with metabolites of butyl-benzyl phthalate (BBzP) and di-iso-nonyl phthalate (DiNP).

Significance

Maternal phthalate exposure during early pregnancy may be a risk factor for wheeze in early childhood, especially among children whose parents do not have asthma or rhinitis symptoms.

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Fig. 1: Associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and wheeze at 24 months (N = 1148).
Fig. 2: Associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and wheeze at 24 months, stratified for parental asthma and/or rhinitis (N = 1148).
Fig. 3: Associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and wheeze at 24 months, stratified for sex of the child (N = 1148).

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the participants for their generous collaboration, and also the nurses and other staff whose assistance made the recruitment and data collection for this study possible.

Author contributions

ASP: Conceptualization, statistical analysis, visualization, and drafting the manuscript. MK: Project administration, supervision, and critical revision of the manuscript. CHL: Investigation, resources, and critical revision of the manuscript. CGB: Conceptualization, supervision, critical revision of the manuscript, and funding acquisition. HS: Conceptualization, data curation, statistical analysis, supervision, and critical revision of the manuscript.

Funding

This study was funded by grants from the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (Formas), the Swedish Foundation for Health Care Sciences and Allergy Research, Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association’s Research Foundation, and the County Council of Värmland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health Sciences, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

    Anna-Sofia Preece, Malin Knutz, Carl-Gustaf Bornehag & Huan Shu

  2. Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

    Christian H. Lindh

  3. Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA

    Carl-Gustaf Bornehag

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Correspondence to Huan Shu.

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Preece, AS., Knutz, M., Lindh, C.H. et al. Prenatal phthalate exposure and early childhood wheeze in the SELMA study. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 32, 303–311 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-021-00382-w

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