Dietary exposure to mixtures of chemicals in the first year of life and allergic and respiratory diseases up to 8 years in the French EDEN mother-child cohort

Abstract

Exposure to environmental chemicals has been associated with higher risk of childhood allergies. This study aimed to examine the association between infant's dietary exposure to mixtures of chemicals and allergic and respiratory multimorbidity in childhood.

Dietary exposures were assessed at 8 and 12 months in 724 and 745 children of the EDEN cohort. Allergic and respiratory multimorbidity clusters were identified using latent class analyses. Associations between dietary exposure to mixtures of chemicals and allergic clusters were assessed by adjusted multinomial logistic regressions.

At 8 months, higher exposure to a mixture of furans, trace elements, dioxins and PAHs was positively associated with the “asthma only” cluster, while moderate exposure to a mixture of PAHs, pesticides, PCBs and acrylamide was negatively associated with this cluster. A mixture of PCBs and BFRs was positively associated with the “multi-morbidity” cluster. Exposure to a mixture of pesticides and trace elements was positively associated with the “allergy without asthma” cluster. At 12-months, higher exposure to a mixture of trace elements and pesticides was positively associated with “multi-morbidity” cluster.

The differences in findings between the two ages suggest the need for further studies to explore this critical window of chemical exposure and its impact on children's health.