Background: As there is a scarcity of evidence on potential hazards and preventive factors for infantile eczema operating in the prenatal period, the main goal of this study was to assess the role of prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter and environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) in the occurrence of infant eczema jointly with the possible modulating effect of maternal fish consumption. Methods: The study sample consisted of 469 women enrolled during pregnancy, who gave birth to term babies (>36 weeks of gestation). Among all pregnant women recruited, personal measurements of fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) were performed over 48 h in the second trimester of pregnancy. After delivery, every 3 months in the first year of the newborn’s life, a detailed, standardized, face-to-face interview was administered to each mother, in the process of which a trained interviewer recorded any history of infantile eczema and data on potential environmental hazards. The estimated risk of eczema related to higher prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5 >53.0 µg/m³) and postnatal ETS as well as the protective effect of maternal fish intake were adjusted for potential confounders in a multivariable logistic regression model. Results: While the separate effects of higher prenatal PM_2.5 and postnatal ETS exposure were not statistically significant, their joint effect appeared to have a significant influence on the occurrence of infantile eczema [odds ratio 2.39, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10–5.18]. With maternal fish intake of more than 205 g/week, the risk of eczema decreased by 43% (odds ratio 0.57, 95% CI 0.35–0.93). The incidence rate ratio (IRR) for eczema symptoms, estimated from the Poisson regression model, was increased with both higher exposure to prenatal PM_2.5 and postnatal ETS (IRR 1.55, 95% CI 0.99–2.44) and in children of atopic mothers (IRR 1.35, 95% CI 1.04–1.75) but was lower in girls (IRR 0.78, 95% CI 0.61–1.00). The observed preventive effect of fish consumption on the frequency of eczema symptoms was consistent with the results of the logistic analysis (IRR 0.72, 95% CI 0.52–0.99). Conclusions: The findings indicate that higher prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter combined with postnatal exposure to ETS may increase the risk of infant eczema, while maternal fish intake during pregnancy may reduce the risk of infantile eczema.

SUMMARY Impaired fetal development is associated with a number of adult chronic diseases and it is believed that these associations arise as a result of the phenomenon of “epigenetic programming”, which involves persisting changes in structure and function of various body organs caused by ambient factors during critical and vulnerable periods of early development. The main goal of the study was to assess the association between lung function in early childhood and prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ), which represents a wide range of chemical compounds potentially hazardous for fetal development. Among pregnant women recruited prenatally to the study personal measurements of PM2.5 was performed over 48 hours in the second trimester of pregnancy. After delivery, infants were followed over five years and the interviewers visited participants at their homes to record children’s respiratory symptoms every three months in the child’s first two years of life and every 6 months later. In the fifth year of the follow-up, children were invited for standard lung function testing and quantified by FVC, FEV1 and FEV05 levels. Material consisted of 176 children of nonsmoking mothers, who performed at least two acceptable spirometry measurements. Multivariable linear regression model showed a significant deficit of FVC at the highest quartile of PM2.5 exposure (beta coefficient = − 91.9 , P = 0.008), after adjustment for covariates (age, gender, birth weight, height and wheezing). Also FEV1 level in children was inversely correlated with prenatal exposure to PM2.5, and the average FEV1 deficit amounted to 87.7 ml (P = 0.008) at the higher level of exposure. Although the effect of PM2.5 exposure on FEV05 was proportionally weaker (−72.7, P = 0.026) it was significant as well. The lung function level was inversely and significantly associated with the wheezing recorded over the follow-up. The findings showed that significant lung function deficits in early childhood is associated with prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter, which may affect fetal lung growth.

The main goal of the study was to determine the relationship between prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) measured by PAH-DNA adducts in umbilical cord blood and early wheeze. The level of PAH-DNA adducts in the cord blood is assumed to reflect the cumulative dose of PAHs absorbed by the fetus over the prenatal period. The effect of prenatal PAH exposure on respiratory health measured by the incidence rate ratio (IRR) for the number of wheezing days in the subsequent four year follow-up was adjusted for potential confounding factors such as personal prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), gender of child, maternal characteristics (age, education and atopy), parity, and mold/dampness in the home. The study sample includes 339 newborns of non-smoking mothers 18-35 years of age and free from chronic diseases, who were recruited from ambulatory prenatal clinics in the first or second trimester of pregnancy. The number of wheezing days during the first two years of life was positively associated with prenatal level of PAH-DNA adducts (IRR = 1.69, 95%CI = 1.52 – 1.88), prenatal particulate matter (PM2.5) level dichotomized by the median (IRR = 1.38; 95%CI: 1.25 – 1.51), maternal atopy (IRR = 1.43; 95%CI: 1.29 – 1.58), moldy/damp house (IRR = 1.43; 95%CI: 1.27 – 1.61). The level of maternal education and maternal age at delivery were inversely associated with the IRRs for wheeze. The significant association between frequency of wheeze and the level of prenatal environmental hazards (PAHs and PM2.5) was not observed at ages 3 or 4 years. Although the frequency of wheezing at ages 3 or 4 years was no longer associated with prenatal exposure to PAHs and PM2.5, its occurrence depended on the presence of wheezing in the first two years of life, which nearly tripled the risk of wheezing in later life. In conclusion, the findings may suggest that driving force for early wheezing (<24 months of age) are different to those leading to later onset of wheeze. As we reported no synergistic effects between prenatal PAH (measured by PAH-DNA adducts) and PM2.5 exposures on early wheeze, this suggests the two exposures may exert independent effects via different biological mechanism on wheeze.

The main goal of the study was to test the hypothesis that prenatal and postnatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is associated with depressed lung function in non-asthmatic children. The study sample comprises 195 non-asthmatic children of non-smoking mothers, among whom the prenatal PAH exposure was assessed by personal air monitoring in pregnancy. At the age of 3, residential air monitoring was carried out to evaluate the residential PAH exposure indoors and outdoors. At the age of 5 to 8, children were given allergic skin tests for indoor allergens; and between 5–9 years lung function testing (FVC, FEV05, FEV1 and FEF25–75) was performed. The effects of prenatal PAH exposure on lung function tests repeated over the follow-up were adjusted in the General Estimated Equation (GEE) model for the relevant covariates. No association between FVC with prenatal PAH exposure was found; however for the FEV1 deficit associated with higher prenatal PAH exposure (above 37ng/m3) amounted to 53 mL (p = 0.050) and the deficit of FEF25–75 reached 164 mL (p=0.013). The corresponding deficits related to postnatal residential indoor PAH level (above 42 ng/m3) were 59 mL of FEV1 (p=0.028) and 140 mL of FEF25–75 (p=0.031). At the higher residential outdoor PAH level (above 90 ng/m3) slightly greater deficit of FEV1 (71mL, p = 0.009) was observed. The results of the study suggest that transplacental exposure to PAH compromises the normal developmental process of respiratory airways and that this effect is compounded by postnatal PAH exposure.

Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) is a recognized risk factor for elevated blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular disease in adults, and this prospective cohort study was undertaken to evaluate whether gestational exposure to PM2.5 has a prohypertensive effect. We measured personal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) by personal air monitoring in the second trimester of pregnancy among 431 women, and BP values in the third trimester were obtained from medical records of prenatal care clinics. In the general estimating equation model, the effect of PM2.5 on BP was adjusted for relevant covariates such as maternal age, education, parity, gestational weight gain (GWG), prepregnancy BMI, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and blood lead level. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) increased in a linear fashion across a dosage of PM2.5 and on average augmented by 6.1 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.6–11.6) with log unit of PM2.5 concentration. Effects of age, maternal education, prepregnancy BMI, blood lead level, and ETS were insignificant. Women with excessive gestational weight gain (>18 kg) had higher mean SBP parameters by 5.5 mmHg (95% CI, 2.7–8.3). In contrast, multiparous women had significantly lower SBP values (coeff. = −4.2 mm Hg; 95% CI, −6.8 to −1.6). Similar analysis performed for diastolic blood pressure (DBP) has demonstrated that PM2.5 also affected DBP parameters (coeff. = 4.1; 95% CI, −0.02 to 8.2), but at the border significance level. DBP values were positively associated with the excessive GWG (coeff. = 2.3; 95% CI, 0.3–4.4) but were inversely related to parity (coeff. = −2.7; 95% CI, −4.6 to −0.73). In the observed cohort, the exposure to fine particulate matter during pregnancy was associated with increased maternal blood pressure.