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Prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants not associated with asthma, eczema

Environmental chemical contaminants such as organochlorines and perfluorooctanoic acid were inversely associated with the development of childhood asthma and eczema, according to study results.

Lidwien A.M. Smit, PhD, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed 1,024 mother-child pairs from the INUENDO birth cohort study conducted between 2002 and 2012 in Greenland and the Ukraine. Pregnant women were recruited from 2002 to 2004, and follow-up was conducted when their children were aged 5 to 9 years.

Parents were interviewed using a survey based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood Questionnaire. The researchers investigated health outcomes that included: ever or current eczema, ever or current wheeze, and asthma.

Meta-analysis indicated that exposure to diisononyl phthalate was not associated with current asthma across both populations (adjusted OR = 0.71; 95% CI, 0.52-0.96), while other exposure associations were inconsistent between cohorts.

Exposure to diethylhexyl phthalate was associated with current wheeze in children in Ukraine (adjusted OR = 1.56; 95% CI, 1.03-2.37). Contaminants such as perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluoroheptanoic acid, however, were inversely associated with current wheeze (aOR = 0.64; 95% CI, 0.41-0.99).

Environmental contaminants such as organochlorines also were negatively associated with the development of eczema in children in Greenland (aOR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.61-0.99).

Despite results that indicated prenatal exposure to these contaminants was not linked to childhood asthma and eczema, the researchers said more study is needed.

“Further research, preferably addressing multiple exposures that are measured both prenatally and postnatally, is needed to shed more light on the possible contribution of emerging and legacy pollutants to allergic disorders in children,” the researchers wrote. – by Ryan McDonald

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.