Higher fish consumption in pregnancy may confer protection against the harmful effect of prenatal exposure to fine particulate matter.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this study was to assess a hypothesized beneficial effect of fish consumption during the last trimester of pregnancy on adverse birth outcomes resulting from prenatal exposure to fine air particulate matter.


METHODS
The cohort consisted of 481 nonsmoking women with singleton pregnancies, of 18-35 years of age, who gave birth at term. All recruited women were asked about their usual diet over the period of pregnancy. Measurements of particulate matter less than 2.5 mum in size (PM(2.5)) were carried out by personal air monitoring over 48 h during the second trimester of pregnancy. The effect of PM(2.5) and fish intake during gestation on the birth weight of the babies was estimated from multivariable linear regression models, which beside the main independent variables considered a set of potential confounding factors such as the size of the mother (height, prepregnancy weight), maternal education, parity, the gender of the child, gestational age and the season of birth.


RESULTS
The study showed that the adjusted birth weight was significantly lower in newborns whose mothers were exposed to particulate matter greater than 46.3 microg/m3 (beta coefficient = -97.02, p = 0.032). Regression analysis stratified by the level of maternal fish consumption (in tertiles) showed that the deficit in birth weight amounted to 133.26 g (p = 0.052) in newborns whose mothers reported low fish intake (<91 g/week). The birth weight deficit in newborns whose mothers reported medium (91-205 g/week) or higher fish intake (>205 g/week) was insignificant. The interaction term between PM(2.5) and fish intake levels was also insignificant (beta = -107,35, p = 0.215). Neither gestational age nor birth weight correlated with maternal fish consumption.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that a higher consumption of fish by women during pregnancy may reduce the risk of adverse effects of prenatal exposure to toxicants and highlight the fact that a full assessment of adverse birth outcomes resulting from prenatal exposure to ambient hazards should consider maternal nutrition during pregnancy.
Jedrychowski
Wieslaw
W
Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland. myjedryc@cyf-kr.edu.pl
Perera
Frederica
F
Mrozek-Budzyn
Dorota
D
Flak
Elzbieta
E
Mroz
Elzbieta
E
Sochacka-Tatara
Elzbieta
E
Jacek
Ryszard
R
Kaim
Irena
I
Skolicki
Zbigniew
Z
Spengler
John D
JD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001724:Birth Weight; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000379:methods*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D039382:Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D009519:New York City; D052638:Particulate Matter; D011044:Poland; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third / Q000502:physiology*; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017747:Seafood; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
D052638:Particulate Matter