Estimated postnatal p,p’-DDT and p,p’-DDE levels and body mass index at 42 months of age in a longitudinal study of Japanese children
Open Access
- 11 May 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Environmental Health
- Vol. 19 (1), 1-9
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-020-00603-z
Abstract
Children are exposed to p,p’-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (p,p’-DDT) and p,p’-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p’-DDE) through placental and lactational transfer. Some studies have suggested that early-life exposure to these compounds could lead to increased body mass index (BMI) during childhood. Our aim was to assess whether children’s exposure during the first 2 years of life is associated with BMI z-score in Japanese children at 42 months of age. We used data from a birth cohort (n = 290) of the Tohoku Study of Child Development. p,p’-DDT and p,p’-DDE levels were measured in breast milk samples collected 1 month after birth, and levels in children were estimated using a toxicokinetic model for three exposure periods (0–6 months, 6–12 months, 12–24 months). Associations between exposure estimates and BMI z-score at 42 months of age were assessed using multivariate linear regression models. We found no significant association between levels of p,p’-DDT measured in breast milk or estimated in children and BMI z-score. However, we observed associations between estimated p,p’-DDE levels in girls during all postnatal exposure periods and BMI z-score; for each log increase in the estimated p,p’-DDE levels, BMI z-score increased by 0.23 (C.I. 95%: 0.01, 0.45) for the 0–6 months exposure period, 0.26 (C.I. 95%: 0.06, 0.47) for the 6–12 months exposure period, and 0.24 (C.I. 95%: 0.05, 0.43) for the 12–24 months exposure period. In this study of Japanese children, estimated postnatal p,p’-DDE levels were associated with increased BMI z-score at 42 months of age, mostly in girls. These results are in line with previous studies supporting that early-life exposure to p,p’-DDE may be associated with higher BMI during childhood.Keywords
Funding Information
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Santé
- Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of the Environment
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