Pubertal growth and development and prenatal and lactational exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene.
OBJECTIVE
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) are ubiquitous toxic environmental contaminants. Prenatal and early life exposures affect pubertal events in experimental animals. We studied whether prenatal or lactational exposures to background levels of PCBs or DDE were associated with altered pubertal growth and development in humans.


METHODS
Follow-up of 594 children from an existing North Carolina cohort whose prenatal and lactational exposures had previously been measured. Height, weight, and stage of pubertal development were assessed through annual mail questionnaires.


RESULTS
Height of boys at puberty increased with transplacental exposure to DDE, as did weight adjusted for height; adjusted means for those with the highest exposures (maternal concentration 4+ ppm fat) were 6.3 cm taller and 6.9 kg larger than those with the lowest (0 to 1 ppm). There was no effect on the ages at which pubertal stages were attained. Lactational exposures to DDE had no apparent effects; neither did transplacental or lactational exposure to PCBs. Girls with the highest transplacental PCB exposures were heavier for their heights than other girls by 5.4 kg, but differences were significant only if the analysis was restricted to white girls.


CONCLUSIONS
Prenatal exposures at background levels may affect body size at puberty.
Gladen
B C
BC
Biostatistics Branch and the Epidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA.
Ragan
N B
NB
Rogan
W J
WJ
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003632:Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth / Q000187:drug effects*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007306:Insecticides / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000187:drug effects*; D009657:North Carolina; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011627:Puberty / Q000187:drug effects*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007306:Insecticides; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls; D003632:Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane