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Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in cord blood and perinatal outcomes from Laizhou Wan Birth Cohort, China

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Abstract

We explored whether polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) exposed in cord blood could have any potential relationship with perinatal outcomes. Participants were pregnant females (n = 222) who were recruited from a prospective birth cohort (Laizhou Wan Birth Cohort, LWBC) between September 2010 and February 2012. We measured eight PBDE congeners (BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-85, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, BDE-154, and BDE-183) in cord serum and examined their relationship with perinatal outcomes. The median levels of BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-85, BDE-99, BDE-100, BDE-153, BDE-154, and BDE-183 were 2.92, 3.93, 2.29, 7.03, 3.03, 3.14, 1.46, and 2.55 ng/g lipids, respectively. For each log unit increase in BDE-47, BDE-100, and ∑4PBDEs, gestational age increased by 0.70 weeks (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.25, 1.15), 0.48 weeks (95% CI 0.03, 0.94), and 0.73 weeks (95% CI 0.12, 1.34), respectively. We also found that BDE-47 was positively associated with head circumference (β = 0.42, 95% CI 0.00, 0.84). Given that our study area is one of the major brominated flame retardant production areas in China, and the cord PBDEs levels were relatively higher than those reported in most other Asian areas, more studies on the effects of in utero PBDE exposure on fetal growth and child development are warranted.

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Abbreviations

LWBC:

Laizhou Wan Birth Cohort

PBDEs:

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers

BFRs:

Brominated flame retardants

CI:

Confidence interval

BMI:

Body mass index

pre-pregnancy BMI:

Pre-pregnancy body mass index

GC/MS:

Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

LOD:

Limit of detection

∑4PBDEs:

Sum of four BDE congeners (BDE-28, BDE-47, BDE-99, and BDE-100)

POPs:

Persistent organic pollutants

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Department of Environmental Health staff, students, hospital staff, participants, and families, without whom this study would not have been completed.

Funding

This research was supported by the Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81630085), National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program 2014CB943300), National Key Research and Development Program (2016YFC1000203), Shanghai Science and Technology Committee Foundation (Grant No. 17ZR1415800), and Key Discipline Construction Project of Shanghai Municipal Public Health (Grant No.15GWZK0201).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wuxi Medical School, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China

    Limei Chen

  2. Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 280 South Chongqing Road, Shanghai, 200025, China

    Limei Chen, Caifeng Wang, Yan Zhang, Yijun Zhou, Rong Shi, Yu Gao & Ying Tian

  3. Research Base of Key Laboratory of Surveillance and Early Warning on Infection Disease in China CDC, Shanghai Pudong New Area Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shanghai, China

    Chang Cui

  4. MOE and Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children’s Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Ying Tian

Authors
  1. Limei Chen
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  2. Caifeng Wang
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  3. Yan Zhang
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  4. Yijun Zhou
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  7. Yu Gao
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yu Gao or Ying Tian.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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Responsible editor: Philippe Garrigues

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Chen, L., Wang, C., Zhang, Y. et al. Polybrominated diphenyl ethers in cord blood and perinatal outcomes from Laizhou Wan Birth Cohort, China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 20802–20808 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2158-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2158-0

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