title: Maternal urinary paraben levels and offspring size at birth from a Chinese birth cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parabens are suspected to impair fetal growth because of their endocrine disrupting effects. Epidemiological studies regarding the effects of prenatal exposure to parabens on birth outcomes are limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to evaluate the association between prenatal paraben exposure and size of infants at birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Within the longitudinal Healthy Baby Cohort (HBC) in Hubei Province, China, we randomly selected 1006 mother-infant pairs recruited in Wuhan City in 2014. Concentrations of parabens were measured in maternal urine collected before delivery. General linear models were used to analyze the associations of maternal parabens exposure levels with birth weight and birth length.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The specific gravity adjusted geometric means for urinary concentrations of methyl paraben (MeP), ethyl paraben (EtP), and propyl paraben (PrP) were 5.41, 0.11, and 0.94 ng/mL, respectively. Maternal urinary concentrations of parabens tended to be positively associated with birth weight in boys, while opposite trends were found in girls, though these associations were not significant. Higher maternal urinary levels of MeP were positively associated with birth length in boys (β = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.58 for the medium tertile, and β = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.58 for the highest tertile compared to the lowest tertile); however, no significant associations with birth length were observed in girls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Maternal urinary levels of MeP were positively associated with length at birth in boys. Besides, we did not find strong associations of the current exposure levels of parabens in Chinese pregnant women with size of infants at birth.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Chuansha
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Wenqian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Huo
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: CDC of Yangtze River Administration and Navigational Affairs, General Hospital of the Yangtze River Shipping, Wuhan, dc0019, China.
authors.forename: Yanjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wan
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Tongzhang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Aifen
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Women and Children Medical and Healthcare Center of Wuhan, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Zhong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, College for Public Health & Social Justice, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
authors.forename: Minzheng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yingshuang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yangqian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Hongxiu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Electronic address: xiawei@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Electronic address: xust@hust.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shunqing
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D001827:Body Height; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000652:urine*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D047109:Fetal Development; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D008875:Middle Aged; D010226:Parabens / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D010226:Parabens
keywords: Birth cohort; Birth size; Maternal urine; Parabens