Association between pre/perinatal exposure to POPs and children's anogenital distance at age 4 years: A study from the INMA-Asturias cohort

Prenatal Exposure to Cigarette Smoke and Anogenital Distance at 4 Years in the INMA-Asturias Cohort

“…First, our information on tobacco use during pregnancy was self-reported and may not be reliable; although we validated the information against urinary cotinine levels and observed a positive borderline statistically significant association between cotinine levels and AGI in female children. By contrast, no such association was observed in male children, but the regression coefficient was negative, suggesting that a shorter AGI may be the result of exposure to other endocrine-disrupting chemicals [ 28 , 34 , 35 , 36 ] and in contrast to what we observed when analyzing self-reported smoking variables. Moreover, maternal smoking status was recorded during the third trimester of pregnancy, which may have led to some misclassification of the exposure early in pregnancy.…”

“…Prenatal exposure to some endocrine-disrupting chemicals has been shown to affect AGD through estrogenic pathways [ 38 ]. We previously reported that polychlorinated biphenyl 101 and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its derivates increased the AGI [ 35 ], and another group showed that maternal exposure to bisphenol A shortened the AGD in female newborns [ 37 ].…”

“…AGD was measured according to methods described in detail elsewhere [ 59 ] and reported in our previous studies [ 34 , 35 ]. Vernier calipers were used to perform measurements in increments of 0.1 mm by two trained pediatricians.…”

“…In mammals, AGD is longer in males and reflects in utero masculinization. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls, and bisphenol A have been linked to shorter AGD in male children [ 28 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Furthermore, AGD may be a biomarker of hyperandrogenemia in women [ 38 , 39 ].…”

Concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in blood of the Spanish population: Temporal trend

“…On the other hand, cord serum PCB levels were the following: 33.12 ng/g lipid for PCB-101, 6.76 ng/g lipid for PCB-118, 32.55 ng/g lipid for PCB-138, 47.7 ng/g lipid for PCB-153 and 27.79 ng/g lipid for PCB-180. Additionally, some PCBs were correlated with feminizing effects in males and masculinizing effects in females aged 4 (13). Gascon et al (2012) based their study on three different cohorts from the INMA project (Sabadell, Gipuzkoa and Valencia).…”