A rapid questionnaire assessment of environmental exposures to pregnant women in the INTERGROWTH-21st Project.

Impaired fetal growth and preterm birth are the leading causes of neonatal and infant mortality worldwide and there is a growing scientific literature suggesting that environmental exposures during pregnancy may play a causal role in these outcomes. Our purpose was to assess the environmental exposure of the Fetal Growth Longitudinal Study (FGLS) participants in the multinational INTERGROWTH-21(st) Project. First, we developed a tool that could be used internationally to screen pregnant women for such exposures and administered it in eight countries on a subsample (n = 987) of the FGLS participants.

Maternal bisphenol a exposure during pregnancy and its association with adipokines in Mexican-American children.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a high volume production chemical that has been detected in 93% of the United States population. It is thought to have endocrine disrupting activity but human data are limited. In this study, we examined whether prenatal or concurrent urinary BPA concentrations are associated with key metabolism-related hormones, adiponectin and leptin (adipokines), in 9-year-old children.

Prenatal and early childhood bisphenol A concentrations and behavior in school-aged children.

Introduction: Early life exposure to bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disrupting chemical used in some food and beverage containers, receipts, and dental sealants, has been associated with anxiety and hyperactivity in animal studies. A few human studies also show prenatal and childhood BPA exposure to be associated with behavior problems in children.

Methods: We measured BPA in urine from mothers during pregnancy and children at 5 years of age (N=292).

Determinants of urinary bisphenol A concentrations in Mexican/Mexican--American pregnant women.

Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) may be associated with adverse health effects in the developing fetus; however, little is known about predictors of BPA exposure during pregnancy. We examined BPA exposure in 491 pregnant women from the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) cohort and explored the role of living in the United States on significant dietary predictors of BPA exposure. Women provided urine samples up to two times during pregnancy (n=866 total samples).

Barium distributions in teeth reveal early-life dietary transitions in primates.

Early-life dietary transitions reflect fundamental aspects of primate evolution and are important determinants of health in contemporary human populations. Weaning is critical to developmental and reproductive rates; early weaning can have detrimental health effects but enables shorter inter-birth intervals, which influences population growth. Uncovering early-life dietary history in fossils is hampered by the absence of prospectively validated biomarkers that are not modified during fossilization.

Diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity in relation to serum dioxin concentrations: the Seveso women's health study.

Background: In animal studies, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) alters glucose transport and increases serum lipid levels and blood pressure. Epidemiologic evidence suggests an association between TCDD and metabolic disease.

Objectives: On 10 July 1976, a chemical explosion in Seveso, Italy, resulted in the highest known residential exposure to TCDD.

Associations of PON1 and genetic ancestry with obesity in early childhood.

Obesity in children has become an epidemic in the U.S. and is particularly prominent in minority populations such as Mexican-Americans.

Residential proximity to methyl bromide use and birth outcomes in an agricultural population in California.

Background: Methyl bromide, a fungicide often used in strawberry cultivation, is of concern for residents who live near agricultural applications because of its toxicity and potential for drift. Little is known about the effects of methyl bromide exposure during pregnancy.

Objective: We investigated the relationship between residential proximity to methyl bromide use and birth outcomes.

In utero DDT and DDE exposure and obesity status of 7-year-old Mexican-American children in the CHAMACOS cohort.

Background: In utero exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds including dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) has been hypothesized to increase risk of obesity later in life.

Objectives: The Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study is a longitudinal birth cohort of low-income Latinas living in a California agricultural community. We examined the relation of in utero DDT and DDE exposure to child obesity at 7 years of age.

Pregnancy glycemia in Mexican-American women without diabetes or gestational diabetes and programming for childhood obesity.

In the present study, we estimated the association between pregnancy glucose levels and offspring body mass index (BMI) z scores at 2, 3.5, 5, and 7 years of age, as well as z score trajectories across this age range, among Mexican-American women without diabetes or gestational diabetes. Beginning in 1999-2000, the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas prospectively followed women from Monterey County, California (52 obese and 214 nonobese women) and their children.

Prenatal and postnatal bisphenol A exposure and body mass index in childhood in the CHAMACOS cohort.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA), a widely used endocrine-disrupting chemical, has been associated with increased body weight and fat deposition in rodents.

Objectives: We examined whether prenatal and postnatal urinary BPA concentrations were associated with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, percent body fat, and obesity in 9-year-old children (n = 311) in the CHAMACOS longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: BPA was measured in spot urine samples collected from mothers twice during pregnancy and from children at 5 and 9 years of age.

Associations between perinatal factors and adiponectin and leptin in 9-year-old Mexican-American children.

What Is Already Known About This Subject: Mexican-American children are at particularly high risk of obesity. Features of the perinatal environment, including maternal nutrition, anthropometry, glucose tolerance and growth rate during infancy are implicated in programming of obesity in the offspring.

What This Study Adds: Greater rate of weight or length gain in the first 6 months of life is associated with lower 9-year child adiponectin levels, adjusting for 9-year child BMI.

BMI in relation to sperm count: an updated systematic review and collaborative meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND The global obesity epidemic has paralleled a decrease in semen quality. Yet, the association between obesity and sperm parameters remains controversial. The purpose of this report was to update the evidence on the association between BMI and sperm count through a systematic review with meta-analysis.

In utero and childhood polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposures and neurodevelopment in the CHAMACOS study.

Background: California children's exposures to polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) are among the highest worldwide. PBDEs are known endocrine disruptors and neurotoxicants in animals.

Objective: Here we investigate the relation of in utero and child PBDE exposure to neurobehavioral development among participants in CHAMACOS (Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas), a California birth cohort.

Maternal urinary bisphenol a during pregnancy and maternal and neonatal thyroid function in the CHAMACOS study.

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) is widely used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic bottles, food and beverage can linings, thermal receipts, and dental sealants. Animal and human studies suggest that BPA may disrupt thyroid function. Although thyroid hormones play a determinant role in human growth and brain development, no studies have investigated relations between BPA exposure and thyroid function in pregnant women or neonates.

Variability of organophosphorous pesticide metabolite levels in spot and 24-hr urine samples collected from young children during 1 week.

Background: Dialkyl phosphate (DAP) metabolites in spot urine samples are frequently used to characterize children's exposures to organophosphorous (OP) pesticides. However, variable exposure and short biological half-lives of OP pesticides could result in highly variable measurements, leading to exposure misclassification.

Objective: We examined within- and between-child variability in DAP metabolites in urine samples collected during 1 week.

Elemental composition of human semen is associated with motility and genomic sperm defects among older men.

Background: Older men tend to have poorer semen quality and are generally at higher risks for infertility and abnormal reproductive outcomes.

Methods: We employed proton-induced X-ray emission (PIXE, 3 MeV proton beam) to investigate the concentrations of zinc, copper, calcium, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, titanium, iron and nickel in washed sperm and seminal plasma from non-smoking groups of 10 older men (65-80 years old) and 10 younger men (22-28 years old) who were concurrently assayed for sperm function and genomicly defective sperm.

Results: The older group showed elevated zinc, copper and calcium in sperm and elevated sulfur in seminal plasma compared with the younger men.

Micronutrients intake is associated with improved sperm DNA quality in older men.

Objective: To investigate whether lifestyle factors such as increased dietary intake of micronutrients reduce the risks of sperm DNA damage, and whether older men benefit more than younger men.

Design: Cross-sectional study design with equalized assignments into age groups.

Setting: National laboratory and university.

Pregnancy glucose levels in women without diabetes or gestational diabetes and childhood cardiometabolic risk at 7 years of age.

Objective: To estimate the association between pregnancy glucose values in women without recognized pregestational diabetes or gestational diabetes and cardiometabolic risk in their children.

Study Design: This longitudinal cohort study of 211 Mexican American mother-child pairs participating in the Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas study used multiple logistic regression to estimate the children's risk of nonfasting total cholesterol, nonfasting triglycerides, blood pressure (BP), and waist circumference (WC) ≥75th percentile at 7 years of age associated with a 1-mmol/L (18-mg/dL) increase in maternal pregnancy glucose level, measured 1 hour after a 50-g oral glucose load.

Results: The ORs for children in the upper quartile of diastolic BP, systolic BP, and WC associated with a 1-mmol/L increase in pregnancy glucose level were 1.

Organophosphorous pesticide breakdown products in house dust and children's urine.

Human exposure to preformed dialkylphosphates (DAPs) in food or the environment may affect the reliability of DAP urinary metabolites as biomarkers of organophosphate (OP) pesticide exposure. We conducted a study to investigate the presence of DAPs in indoor residential environments and their association with children's urinary DAP levels. We collected dust samples from homes in farmworker and urban communities (40 homes total, n=79 samples) and up to two urine samples from resident children ages 3-6 years.

Cholinesterase and paraoxonase (PON1) enzyme activities in Mexican-American mothers and children from an agricultural community.

Exposure to organophosphate and carbamate pesticides can lead to neurotoxic effects through inhibition of cholinesterase enzymes. The paraoxonase (PON1) enzyme can detoxify oxon derivatives of some organophosphates. Lower PON1, acetylcholinesterase, and butyrylcholinesterase activities have been reported in newborns relative to adults, suggesting increased susceptibility to organophosphate exposure in young children.

Organophosphate pesticide levels in blood and urine of women and newborns living in an agricultural community.

Organophosphate pesticides are widely used and recent studies suggest associations of in utero exposures with adverse birth outcomes and neurodevelopment. Few studies have characterized organophosphate pesticides in human plasma or established how these levels correlate to urinary measurements. We measured organophosphate pesticide metabolites in maternal urine and chlorpyrifos and diazinon in maternal and cord plasma of subjects living in an agricultural area to compare levels in two different biological matrices.

Factors associated with serum polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) levels among school-age children in the CHAMACOS cohort.

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are a class of flame retardants historically used in textiles, furniture, and electronic products. Recent studies have documented widespread PBDE exposure to humans, with higher levels measured in children than adults. We analyzed 10 tri- to hepta-BDE congener levels in blood collected from 7-year old Mexican-American children living in an agriculture community in California (n = 272).

Determining fetal manganese exposure from mantle dentine of deciduous teeth.

Studies addressing health effects of manganese (Mn) excess or deficiency during prenatal development are hampered by a lack of biomarkers that can reconstruct fetal exposure. We propose a method using the neonatal line, a histological feature in deciduous teeth, to identify regions of mantle dentine formed at different prenatal periods. Micromeasurements of Mn in these regions may be used to reconstruct exposure at specific times in fetal development.

Sex ratio variations among the offspring of women with diabetes in pregnancy.

Aims: It has long been hypothesized that natural selection would favour a reproductive strategy biased towards females under adverse circumstances in order to maximize the number of surviving grandchildren. An excess of daughters in women with Type 1 diabetes and a greater likelihood of gestational diabetes in women carrying male fetuses have also been reported. This study aims to compare the sex ratio across categories of maternal glycaemia.