Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phthalate acid esters and gestational diabetes mellitus: A prospective cohort study

Background

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and phthalate acid esters (PAHs & PAEs), known as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs), widely exist in daily life and industrial production. Previous studies have suggested that PAHs & PAEs may modify the intrauterine homeostasis and have adverse effects on fetal development. However, epidemiological evidence on the associations between PAHs & PAEs and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is still limited.

Objective

To investigate the effects of prenatal PAHs &PAEs exposure on the risk of GDM and hyperglycemia in pregnant women.

Methods

The study population was a total of 725 pregnant women from a prospective birth cohort study conducted from December 2019 to December 2021. Blood glucose levels were collected by the hospital information system. Urinary PAHs & PAEs concentrations were determined by gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The Poisson regression in a generalized linear model (GLM), multiple linear regression, quantile-based g-computation method (qgcomp), and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) were applied to explore and verify the individual and overall effects of PAHs & PAEs on glucose homeostasis. Potential confounders were adjusted in all statistical models.

Results

A total of 179 (24.69%) women were diagnosed with GDM. The Poisson regression suggested that a ln-unit increment of 4-OHPHE (4-hydroxyphenanthrene) (adjusted Risk Ratio (aRR) = 1.13; 1.02–1.26) was associated with the increased GDM risk. Mixed-exposure models showed similar results. We additionally found that MBZP (mono-benzyl phthalate) (aRR = 1.19; 1.02–1.39) was positively related to GDM risk in qgcomp model. Although neither model demonstrated that 2-OHNAP (2-hydroxynaphthalene) and 9-OHFLU (9-hydroxyfluorene) increased the risk of GDM, 2-OHNAP and 9-OHFLU exposure significantly increased blood glucose levels. BKMR model further confirmed that overall effects of PAHs & PAEs were significantly associated with the gestational hyperglycemia and GDM risk.

Conclusions

Our study presents that environmental exposure to PAHs & PAEs was positively associated with gestational glucose levels and the risks of developing GDM. In particular, 2-OHNAP, 9-OHFLU, 4-OHPHE and MBZP may serve as important surveillance markers to prevent the development of GDM.