Associations between prenatal exposure to PFAS and cardiometabolic health in preadolescents.

Introduction: While a number of studies have examined the effects of prenatal exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on childhood obesity, the results reported have been inconsistent and few studies have integrated biological markers. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between prenatal exposure to PFAS and cardiometabolic health parameters at age 12, taking pubertal stage into consideration.

Method: This study included 394 mother-child pairs enrolled in the PELAGIE mother-child cohort (France).

Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants and its impact on the ovarian reserve at 12 years old in the PELAGIE mother-child cohort.

Although the ovarian reserve is constituted in utero, the literature on the effects of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) during this vulnerable period on the ovarian reserve later in life is limited. We investigated whether cord blood concentrations of POPs were associated with decreased anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH, a marker of the ovarian reserve) levels in girls at the age of 12. We included 239 girls from the French mother-child PELAGIE cohort.

Early exposure to mercury and cardiovascular function of seven-year old children in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Background: The cardiotoxicity of prenatal exposure to mercury has been suggested in populations having regular contaminated seafood intake, though replications in the literature are inconsistent.

Methods: The Timoun Mother-Child Cohort Study was set up in Guadeloupe, an island in the Caribbean Sea where seafood consumption is regular. At seven years of age, 592 children underwent a medical examination, including cardiac function assessment.

Surveillance of multiple congenital anomalies; searching for new associations.

Many human teratogens are associated with a spectrum of congenital anomalies rather than a single defect, and therefore the identification of congenital anomalies occurring together more frequently than expected may improve the detection of teratogens. Thirty-two EUROCAT congenital anomaly registries covering 6,599,765 births provided 123,566 cases with one or more major congenital anomalies (excluding chromosomal and genetic syndromes) for the birth years 2008-2016. The EUROCAT multiple congenital anomaly algorithm identified 8804 cases with two or more major congenital anomalies in different organ systems, that were not recognized as part of a syndrome or sequence.

Prenatal Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Child Behavior at Age 12: A PELAGIE Mother-Child Cohort Study.

Background: Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemical substances spread throughout the environment worldwide. Exposure during pregnancy represents a specific window of vulnerability for child health.

Objective: Our objective was to assess the impact of prenatal exposure to multiple PFAS on emotional and behavioral functions in 12-y-old children.

Meconium Concentrations of Pesticides and Risk of Hypospadias: A Case-Control Study in Brittany, France.

Background: Hypospadias is a male genital tract defect for which an increase in prevalence has been documented over the last few decades. A role for environmental risk factors is suspected, including prenatal exposure to pesticides.

Objectives: To study the risk of hypospadias in association with multiple pesticide measurements in meconium samples.

Circumstances, causes and timing of death in extremely preterm infants admitted to NICU: The EPIPAGE-2 study.

Aim: To describe the circumstances, causes and timing of death in extremely preterm infants.

Methods: We included from the EPIPAGE-2 study infants born at 24-26 weeks in 2011 admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICU). Vital status and circumstances of death were used to define three groups of infants: alive at discharge, death with or without withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment (WWLST).

Prenatal exposure to multiple persistent organic pollutants in association with adiposity markers and blood pressure in preadolescents.

Background: Several studies have reported that prenatal exposure to some persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is associated with higher adiposity in childhood. Few studies have assessed whether this finding persists into adolescence, and few have considered exposure to POPs as a mixture. This study aims to assess the association between prenatal exposure to multiple POPs and adiposity markers and blood pressure in preadolescents.

Prenatal and childhood chlordecone exposure, cognitive abilities and problem behaviors in 7-year-old children: the TIMOUN mother-child cohort in Guadeloupe.

Background: Chlordecone is a highly persistent organochlorine insecticide that was intensively used in banana fields in the French West Indies, resulting in a widespread contamination. Neurotoxicity of acute exposures in adults is well recognized, and empirical data suggests that prenatal exposure affects visual and fine motor developments during infancy and childhood, with greater susceptibility in boys.

Objective: To assess the associations between pre- and postnatal exposures to chlordecone and cognitive and behavioral functions in school-aged children from Guadeloupe.

Amniotic band syndrome and limb body wall complex in Europe 1980-2019.

Amniotic band syndrome (ABS) and limb body wall complex (LBWC) have an overlapping phenotype of multiple congenital anomalies and their etiology is unknown. We aimed to determine the prevalence of ABS and LBWC in Europe from 1980 to 2019 and to describe the spectrum of congenital anomalies. In addition, we investigated maternal age and multiple birth as possible risk factors for the occurrence of ABS and LBWC.

Persistent Organic Pollutant Exposure and Thyroid Function among 12-Year-Old Children.

Introduction: Polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) having numerous toxicological properties, including thyroid endocrine disruption. Our aim was to assess the impact of POPs on thyroid hormones among 12-year-old children, while taking puberty into consideration.

Methods: Exposure to 7 PCBs, 4 OCPs, and 6 PFASs (in µg/L), and free tri-iodothyronine (fT3, pg/mL), free thyroxine (fT4, ng/dL), and thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH, mIU/L) were assessed through blood-serum measurements at age 12 years in 249 boys and 227 girls of the PELAGIE mother-child cohort (France).

Prenatal and childhood exposure to chlordecone and adiposity of seven-year-old children in the Timoun mother-child cohort study in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).

Background: Exposure to persistent environmental organic pollutants may contribute to the development of obesity among children. Chlordecone is a persistent organochlorine insecticide with estrogenic properties that was used in the French West Indies (1973-1993) and is still present in the soil and the water and food consumed by the local population. We studied the association between prenatal and childhood exposure to chlordecone and the adiposity of prepubertal children.

Visuospatial processing and fine motor function among 7-years old Guadeloupe children pre- and postnatally exposed to the organochlorine pesticide chlordecone.

Background: Chlordecone is an organochlorine that was largely used as an insecticide to control a species of root borers, the Banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus), in the French West Indies, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Its molecules have been shown to be very persistent in the environment as pollution in soils leading to contamination of water sources and foodstuff will last for several decades. Our team previously reported associations between prenatal chlordecone exposure and poorer fine motor development at two points in time during infancy.

Chlordecone Exposure and Thyroid, Metabolic, and Sex-Steroid Hormones at the Age of Seven Years: A Study From the TIMOUN Mother-Child Cohort in Guadeloupe.

Background: Chlordecone is an endocrine-disrupting chemical with well recognized estrogenic and progestagenic properties. This organochlorine insecticide was extensively used in the French West Indies from 1973 to 1993 to control the banana root borer. Due to its poor degradation in the environment, permanently polluted soil is responsible for the current contamination of the food chain and human beings.

Prevention of Neural Tube Defects in Europe: A Public Health Failure.

Thirty years ago it was demonstrated that folic acid taken before pregnancy and in early pregnancy reduced the risk of a neural tube defect (NTD). Despite Public Health Initiatives across Europe recommending that women take 0.4 mg folic acid before becoming pregnant and during the first trimester, the prevalence of NTD pregnancies has not materially decreased in the EU since 1998, in contrast to the dramatic fall observed in the USA.

Petroleum and Chlorinated Solvents in Meconium and the Risk of Hypospadias: A Pilot Study.

Hypospadias is a male congenital malformation that occurs in ~2 of 1,000 births. The association between hypospadias and fetal exposure to environmental chemicals has been studied, but the results are inconsistent. Although several petroleum and chlorinated solvents are suspected to have teratogenic effects, their role in the occurrence of hypospadias has been little studied and never using biomarkers of exposure.