Prenatal PFAS and psychosocial stress exposures in relation to fetal growth in two pregnancy cohorts: Applying environmental mixture methods to chemical and non-chemical stressors

Stephanie M. Eick; Elizabeth A. Enright; Amy M. Padula; Max Aung; Sarah D. Geiger; Lara Cushing; Jessica Trowbridge; Alexander P. Keil; Hyoung Gee Baek; Sabrina Smith; June-Soo Park; Erin DeMicco; Susan L. Schantz; Tracey J. Woodruff; Rachel Morello-Frosch

Environment International (May 2022)

Prenatal PFAS and psychosocial stress exposures in relation to fetal growth in two pregnancy cohorts: Applying environmental mixture methods to chemical and non-chemical stressors

Stephanie M. Eick,
Elizabeth A. Enright,
Amy M. Padula,
Max Aung,
Sarah D. Geiger,
Lara Cushing,
Jessica Trowbridge,
Alexander P. Keil,
Hyoung Gee Baek,
Sabrina Smith,
June-Soo Park,
Erin DeMicco,
Susan L. Schantz,
Tracey J. Woodruff,
Rachel Morello-Frosch

Affiliations

Stephanie M. Eick: Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Corresponding authors at :Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA (S.M. Eick). Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (R. Morello-Frosch).
Elizabeth A. Enright: Department of Psychology, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, MD, USA
Amy M. Padula: Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Max Aung: Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; Department of Psychology, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, St. Mary’s City, MD, USA; Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Division of Environmental Health, Department of Population and Public Health Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California; Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL USA; Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA; Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley, CA, USA; Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA; Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Sarah D. Geiger: Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA; Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
Lara Cushing: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Jessica Trowbridge: Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Alexander P. Keil: Department of Epidemiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Hyoung Gee Baek: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley, CA, USA
Sabrina Smith: Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley, CA, USA
June-Soo Park: Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Department of Toxic Substances Control, California Environmental Protection Agency, Berkeley, CA, USA
Erin DeMicco: Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Susan L. Schantz: Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL USA; Department of Comparative Biosciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA
Tracey J. Woodruff: Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
Rachel Morello-Frosch: Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA; Corresponding authors at :Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA (S.M. Eick). Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management and School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA (R. Morello-Frosch).

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 163
p. 107238

Abstract

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Background: Prenatal exposure to individual per‑ and poly‑fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and psychosocial stressors have been associated with reductions in fetal growth. Studies suggest cumulative or joint effects of chemical and non-chemical stressors on fetal growth. However, few studies have examined PFAS and non-chemical stressors together as a mixture, which better reflects real life exposure patterns. We examined joint associations between PFAS, perceived stress, and depression, and fetal growth using two approaches developed for exposure mixtures. Methods: Pregnant participants were enrolled in the Chemicals in Our Bodies cohort and Illinois Kids Development Study, which together make up the ECHO.CA.IL cohort. Seven PFAS were previously measured in 2nd trimester maternal serum samples and were natural log transformed for analyses. Perceived stress and depression were assessed using self-reported validated questionnaires, which were converted to t-scores using validated methods. Quantile g-computation and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were used to assess joint associations between PFAS, perceived stress and depression t-scores and birthweight z-scores (N = 876). Results: Individual PFAS, depression and perceived stress t-scores were negatively correlated with birthweight z-scores. Using quantile g-computation, a simultaneous one quartile increase in all PFAS, perceived stress and depression t-scores was associated with a slight reduction in birthweight z-scores (mean change per quartile increase = -0.09, 95% confidence interval = -0.21, 0.03). BKMR similarly indicated that cumulative PFAS and stress t-scores were modestly associated with lower birthweight z-scores. Across both methods, the joint association appeared to be distributed across multiple exposures rather than due to a single exposure. Conclusions: Our study is one of the first to examine the joint effects of chemical and non-chemical stressors on fetal growth using mixture methods. We found that PFAS, perceived stress, and depression in combination were modestly associated were lower birthweight z-scores, which supports prior studies indicating that chemical and non-chemical stressors are jointly associated with adverse health outcomes.

Published in Environment International

ISSN: 0160-4120 (Print)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Geography. Anthropology. Recreation: Environmental sciences
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/environment-international

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