First year growth in relation to prenatal exposure to endocrine disruptors - a Dutch prospective cohort study

Growth in the first year of life may already be predictive of obesity later in childhood. The objective was to assess the association between prenatal exposure to various endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and child growth during the first year. Dichloro-diphenyldichloroethylene (DDE), mono(2-ethyl-5-carboxypentyl)phthalate (MECPP), mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl)phthalate (MEHHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl)phthalate (MEOHP), polychlorinated biphenyl-153, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid, and perfluoro-octanoic acid were measured in cord plasma or breast milk. Data on weight, length, and head circumference (HC) until 11 months after birth was obtained from 89 mother-child pairs. Mixed models were composed for each health outcome and exposure in quartiles. For MEOHP, boys in quartile 1 had a higher BMI than higher exposed boys (p = 0.029). High DDE exposure was associated with low BMI over time in boys (0.8 kg/m