Extending Nontargeted Discovery of Environmental Chemical Exposures during Pregnancy and Their Association with Pregnancy Complications-A Cross-Sectional Study
By Jessica Trowbridge, Dimitri Abrahamsson, Garret D Bland, Ting Jiang, Miaomiao Wang, June-Soo Park, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Marina Sirota, Harim Lee, Dana E Goin, Marya G Zlatnik, and Tracey J Woodruff
Environ Health Perspect
July 19, 2023
DOI: 10.1289/EHP11546
Background
Nontargeted analysis (NTA) methods identify novel exposures; however, few chemicals have been quantified and interrogated with pregnancy complications.
Objectives
We characterized levels of nine exogenous and endogenous chemicals in maternal and cord blood identified, selected, and confirmed in prior NTA steps, including linear and branched isomers perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS), monoethylhexyl phthalate, 4-nitrophenol, tetraethylene glycol, tridecanedioic acid, octadecanedioic acid, and deoxycholic acid. We evaluated relationships between maternal and cord levels and between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in a diverse pregnancy cohort in San Francisco.
Methods
We collected matched maternal and cord serum samples at delivery from 302 pregnant study participants from the Chemicals in Our Bodies cohort in San Francisco. Chemicals were identified via NTA and quantified using targeted approaches. We calculated distributions and Spearman correlation coefficients testing the relationship of chemicals within and between the maternal and cord blood matrices. We used adjusted logistic regression to calculate the odds of GDM and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy associated with an interquartile range increase in maternal chemical exposures.
Results
We detected linear PFOS, PFHxS, octadecanedioic acid, and deoxycholic acid in at least 97% of maternal samples. Correlations ranged between and 0.9. We observed strong correlations between cord and maternal levels of PFHxS, linear PFOS, and branched PFOS (, 0.8, and 0.8, respectively). An interquartile range increase in linear and branched PFOS, tridecanedioic acid, octadecanedioic acid, and deoxycholic acid was associated with increased odds ratio (OR) of GDM [ (95% CI: 0.89, 2.01), 1.24 (95% CI: 0.86, 1.80), 1.26 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.73), 1.24 (95% CI: 0.86, 1.80), and 1.23 (95% CI: 0.87, 1.75), respectively]. Tridecanedioic acid was positively associated with hypertensive disorders of pregnancy [ (95% CI: 0.90, 1.86)].
Discussion
We identified both exogenous and endogenous chemicals seldom quantified in pregnant study participants that were also related to pregnancy complications and demonstrated the utility of NTA to identify chemical exposures of concern. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP11546.
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