Environment/Climate Change
A non-persistent endocrine disrupting chemical mixture is associated with increased odds of persistent nausea during pregnancy Brad Ryva* Brad Ryva Blair Wylie Antonia Calafat Susan Schantz Rita Strakovsky
Background: Pregnant women are exposed to many endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) from consumer products. Pregnancy-related nausea is common, can persist past the first trimester, and has unclear, possibly hormonal etiology. Thus, we evaluated associations of an EDC biomarker mixture with nausea persistence.
Methods: Illinois women (n=433) reported nausea since conception or last study visit (yes/no) at median 13, 17, 23, 28, 34 weeks gestation and at delivery. We categorized women as never having nausea, or as having typical (ends by 17 weeks gestation), persistent (ends after 17 weeks gestation), or intermittent nausea. Women provided five urine samples across pregnancy, which we pooled and analyzed for 16 phthalate, three paraben, and six phenol biomarkers. We used quantile-based g computation to assess associations of an EDC mixture with nausea persistence overall and considered differences by fetal sex.
Results: Most women were of high socioeconomic status and had typical nausea (42%), followed by persistent nausea (25%) and irregular nausea (24%); 9% of women never developed nausea. Each 10% increase in the EDC mixture was associated with 27% higher odds of persistent nausea (95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.97, 1.66), driven by di(isononyl) cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (ΣDiNCH), di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (ΣDEHP), and ethylparaben. In women carrying males, each 10% increase in the EDC mixture was associated with 66% higher odds of persistent nausea (95% CI: 1.06, 2.61), driven by ethylparaben, ΣDiNCH, and di-isononyl phthalate (ΣDiNP). The EDC mixture was not associated with nausea persistence in women carrying females (Odds ratio (OR):1.08; 95% CI: 0.74, 1.58). We did not identify associations of the EDC mixture with never developing nausea or with having intermittent nausea.
Conclusion: Future studies should explore hormonal pathways responsible for these findings and investigate if decreasing EDC exposure can reduce nausea persistence in pregnancy.