The association of prenatal volatile organic compounds exposure and newborn anthropometrics: A cross-sectional study

Background

Several studies have associated prenatal exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with adverse health outcomes among newborns. However, little is known about the associations of VOCs at relatively low concentrations with newborn outcomes. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the potential associations between prenatal exposure to VOCs and VOC mixtures with newborn anthropometric measures.

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, 883 mother–term infant pairs who lived in urban areas in Israel and were admitted to the delivery rooms of two major hospitals between 2016 and 2020 were recruited. Associations between VOC metabolites detected in maternal urine samples on the day of delivery with weight, length, and head circumference at birth were estimated using single-exposure linear models and weighted quantile sum (WQS) approach.

Results

Toluene, ethylbenzene/styrene, and xylene metabolites were detected in most samples at levels comparable to OECD populations. In male newborns, higher levels of phenylglyoxylic acid (PGA), a metabolite of ethylbenzene/styrene, were associated with lower birth weight (β = −0.08, 95% CI: 0.14, −0.01; P = 0.03). WQS models suggested PGA as the most prominent contributor to this association.

Conclusion

This study suggests that moderate exposure to ethylbenzene/styrene may be associated with reduced birth weight in male newborns. The sex-specific finding requires further research for the potential endocrine-disrupting mechanisms of these compounds. While the effect size was small, these results highlight the need to better understand the associations of frequent VOC exposures in levels similar to those common in OECD countries with fetal and child development.