BackgroundBisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are ubiquitous non-persistent endocrine disrupting chemicals whose relation with infant birth size is not clearly understood.MethodsWe examined associations between maternal and paternal preconception urinary concentrations of total BPA and 14 phthalate metabolites and birth size for 233 infants. Multiple linear regression models were used to estimate parental quartiles of BPA and phthalates in relation to birth weight, length, head circumference, and ponderal index with separate models run for each parent adjusting for age, smoking, body mass index, education, alcohol, parity, and creatinine. Models also included an interaction term for each chemical and infant sex and were further adjusted to include the other partner’s chemical concentrations.ResultsIn maternal models adjusted for partner’s exposure and covariates, reductions in birth weight (range: 178-215 g; p < 0.05) were observed for the 2nd quartile of maternal monomethyl phthalate, mono-[(2-carboxymethyl) hexyl] phthalate and mono-n-octyl phthalate when compared with the 1st quartiles. The 3rd quartile of monoethylhexyl phthalate (mEHP) was also associated with a 200.16 g (95 % CI: -386.90, -13.42) reduction. Similar reductions in birth weight were observed for the 2nd quartile of paternal mEHP (β = -191.93 g; 95 % CI: -381.61, -2.25). Additionally, select maternal urinary metabolites were associated with decreased head circumference, birth length and gestational age. However, paternal concentrations were generally associated with increased birth length and gestational age.ConclusionsWe observed some suggestion that preconception maternal and paternal urinary concentration of BPA and specific phthalate metabolites may be associated with smaller birth size and increased gestational age, though the findings appeared to be parent and chemical specific.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12940-015-0060-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Objectives To investigate whether prepregnancy obesity is associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes among women without chronic disease. Methods Singleton deliveries (n=112,309) among mothers without chronic diseases in the Consortium on Safe Labor, a retrospective U.S. cohort, were analyzed using Poisson regression with robust variance estimation. Relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) estimated perinatal risks in relation to pre-pregnancy obesity status adjusted for age, race–ethnicity, parity, insurance, smoking and alcohol use during pregnancy, and study site. Results Obstetric risks were variably (and mostly marginally) increased as BMI category and obesity class increased. In particular, the risk of gestational hypertensive disorders, gestational diabetes, cesarean delivery and induction increased in a dose-response fashion. For example, the percent of gestational diabetes among obese class III women was 14.6% in contrast to 2.8% among normal BMI women, corresponding RR (95% CI) 1.99(1.86–2.13), 2.94(2.73–3.18), 3.97(3.61–4.36) and 5.47(4.96–6.04) for overweight, obese class I, obese class II, and obese class II women, respectively, compared with normal BMI women. Similarly, neonatal risks increased in a dose-response fashion with maternal BMI status including preterm birth <32 weeks, large for gestational age (LGA), transient tachypnea, sepsis and intensive care unit admission. The percent of LGA infants increased from 7.9% among normal BMI women to 17.3% among obese class III women and RR increased to 1.52(1.45–1.58), 1.74(1.65–1.83), 1.93(1.79–2.07) and 2.32(2.14–2.52) as BMI category increased. Conclusions Prepregnancy obesity is associated with increased risks of a wide range of adverse pregnancy and neonatal outcomes among women without chronic diseases.