Prohypertensive Effect of Gestational Personal Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter. Prospective Cohort Study in Non-smoking and Non-obese Pregnant Women

Exposure to fine particulate matter (PM) is a recognized risk factor for elevated blood pressure (BP) and cardiovascular disease in adults, and this prospective cohort study was undertaken to evaluate whether gestational exposure to $PM_{2.5}$ has a prohypertensive effect. We measured personal exposure to fine particulate matter ($PM_{2.5}$) by personal air monitoring in the second trimester of pregnancy among 431 women, and BP values in the third trimester were obtained from medical records of prenatal care clinics. In the general estimating equation model, the effect of $PM_{2.5}$ on BP was adjusted for relevant covariates such as maternal age, education, parity, gestational weight gain (GWG), prepregnancy BMI, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), and blood lead level. Systolic blood pressure (SBP) increased in a linear fashion across a dosage of $PM_{2.5}$ and on average augmented by 6.1 mm Hg (95% CI, 0.6–11.6) with log unit of $PM_{2.5}$ concentration. Effects of age, maternal education, prepregnancy BMI, blood lead level, and ETS were insignificant. Women with excessive gestational weight gain (>18 kg) had higher mean SBP parameters by 5.5 mmHg (95% CI, 2.7–8.3). In contrast, multiparous women had significantly lower SBP values (coeff. = −4.2 mm Hg; 95% CI, −6.8 to −1.6). Similar analysis performed for diastolic blood pressure (DBP) has demonstrated that PM2.5 also affected DBP parameters (coeff. = 4.1; 95% CI, −0.02 to 8.2), but at the border significance level. DBP values were positively associated with the excessive GWG (coeff. = 2.3; 95% CI, 0.3–4.4) but were inversely related to parity (coeff. = −2.7; 95% CI, −4.6 to −0.73). In the observed cohort, the exposure to fine particulate matter during pregnancy was associated with increased maternal blood pressure

Modulation of the effect of prenatal PAH exposure on PAH-DNA adducts in cord blood by plasma antioxidants

The fetus is more susceptible than the adult to the effects of certain carcinogens, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). Nutritional factors, including antioxidants, have been shown to have a protective effect on carcinogen-DNA adducts and cancer risk in adults. We investigated whether the effect of prenatal airborne PAH exposure, measured by personal air monitoring during pregnancy, on the level of PAH-DNA adducts in a baby's cord blood is modified by the concentration of micronutrients in maternal and cord blood. The micronutrients examined were: retinol (vitamin A), α-tocopherol and γ-tocopherol (vitamin E), and carotenoids. With the use of multiple linear regression, we found a significant interaction between prenatal PAH exposure and cord blood concentration of α-tocopherol and carotenoids in predicting the concentration of PAH adducts in cord blood. The association between PAH exposure and PAH adducts was much stronger among those with low α-tocopherol (β = 0.15; P = 0.001) and among those with low carotenoids (β = 0.16; P < 0.001) compared with babies with high levels of these micronutrients (among those with high α-tocopherol: β = 0.05; P = 0.165; among those with high carotenoids: β = 0.06; P = 0.111). These results suggest a protective effect of micronutrients on the DNA damage and potential cancer risk associated with prenatal PAH exposure

Long term effects of prenatal and postnatal airborne PAH exposures on ventilatory lung function of non-asthmatic preadolescent children. Prospective birth cohort study in Krakow

The main goal of the study was to test the hypothesis that prenatal and postnatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) is associated with depressed lung function in non-asthmatic children. The study sample comprises 195 non-asthmatic children of non-smoking mothers, among whom the prenatal PAH exposure was assessed by personal air monitoring in pregnancy. At the age of 3, residential air monitoring was carried out to evaluate the residential PAH exposure indoors and outdoors. At the age of 5 to 8, children were given allergic skin tests for indoor allergens; and between 5–9 years lung function testing (FVC, FEV(05), FEV(1) and FEF(25–75)) was performed. The effects of prenatal PAH exposure on lung function tests repeated over the follow-up were adjusted in the General Estimated Equation (GEE) model for the relevant covariates. No association between FVC with prenatal PAH exposure was found; however for the FEV(1) deficit associated with higher prenatal PAH exposure (above 37ng/m(3)) amounted to 53 mL (p = 0.050) and the deficit of FEF(25–75) reached 164 mL (p=0.013). The corresponding deficits related to postnatal residential indoor PAH level (above 42 ng/m(3)) were 59 mL of FEV(1) (p=0.028) and 140 mL of FEF(25–75) (p=0.031). At the higher residential outdoor PAH level (above 90 ng/m(3)) slightly greater deficit of FEV(1) (71mL, p = 0.009) was observed. The results of the study suggest that transplacental exposure to PAH compromises the normal developmental process of respiratory airways and that this effect is compounded by postnatal PAH exposure

The relationship between prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and PAH–DNA adducts in cord blood

In a birth cohort study, we have assessed the dose-response relationship between individual measurements of prenatal airborne PAH exposure and specific PAH-DNA adducts in cord blood adjusted for maternal blood adducts and season of birth. The study uses data from an earlier established birth cohort of children in Krakow. The final analysis included 362 pregnant women who gave birth to term babies and had complete data on personal exposure in the second trimester of pregnancy to eight airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) including benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P), as well as DNA adducts, both in maternal and cord blood. The relation between cord blood PAH-DNA adducts and airborne prenatal PAH exposure was non-linear. While cord blood PAH-DNA adducts were significantly associated with the B[a]P exposure categorized by tertiles (nonparametric trend z = 3.50, p < 0.001), the relationship between B[a]P and maternal blood adducts was insignificant (z = 1.63, p = 0.103). Based on the multivariable linear regression model we estimated the effect of the prenatal airborne B[a]P on the level of cord blood adducts. In total, 14.8% of cord blood adducts variance was attributed to the level of maternal adducts and 3% to a higher prenatal B[a] exposure above 5.70 ng/m(3). The calculated fetal/maternal blood adducts ratio (FMR) linearly increased with the B[a]P exposure (z = 1.99, p = 0.047) and was highest at B[a]P concentrations exceeding 5.70 ng/m(3). In conclusion, the results support other findings that transplacental exposure to B[a[P from maternal inhalation produces DNA damage in the developing fetus. It also confirms the heightened fetal susceptibility to prenatal PAH exposure that should be a matter of public health concern particularly in the highly polluted areas because DNA adducts represent a pro-carcinogenic alteration in DNA The continuation of this birth cohort study will assess the possible health effects of fetal DNA damage on health of children and help in establishing new protective guidelines for newborns