ECHO Study Suggests PCBs in Soil, Water, Building Materials Increase Time Couples Need to Get Pregnant

Author(s): Linda Kahn, Alison Hipwell, Kim Harley, Pam Factor-Litvak, Michele Klein-Fedyshin, Christine Porucznik, Eva Siegel, Yeyi Zhu

Who sponsored this study?

This research was supported by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health. Individual authors were additionally supported by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

What were the study results?

The strongest evidence points to a connection between human-made chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls and a longer time to get pregnant. These chemicals used to be used in electrical and hydraulic equipment. Even though production of these chemicals stopped in the late 1970s, we are still exposed to them through soil, water, and building materials. Another group of chemicals called organochlorine pesticides do not seem to affect the time it takes to get pregnant. We still need more research on brominated flame retardants, found in furniture, clothing, and other household products, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, found in non-stick cookware and stain-resistant fabrics. Many of the newer chemicals in these categories have not yet been studied.

What was the study's impact?

This review shows that some long-lasting chemicals may increase the time it takes for couples to get pregnant. This can be stressful and lead couples to seek expensive fertility treatment. Although many of the chemicals covered in our review are no longer made or used in the US, they can last for years—even decades—in the environment and in our bodies. Therefore, they can still affect our health. We need more research on newer chemicals that have been invented to replace dangerous ones. We also need to figure out exactly how these chemicals interfere with healthy reproduction. For example, there may be times in life, such as puberty, when being exposed to them may be especially damaging. The ECHO Program is an important resource for answering these questions.

Why was this study needed?

Some human-made chemicals can cause problems with the reproductive system. Many studies have looked at whether these chemicals affect how long it takes to get pregnant. How long it takes to become pregnant is a sign of a couple’s reproductive health and can be a sign that they need to seek fertility treatment. Our review compares the results of past studies to see if there are consistent patterns for particular types of chemicals. It also identifies chemicals that need further research.

Who was involved?

This review includes all papers published in English on this topic from January 1, 2007 to August 6, 2019. Our search looked at 28 articles. These articles used data from 19 different studies. The studies took place in North America, Europe, and East Asia.

What happened during the study?

We searched five science libraries and found more than 4500 articles that could possibly fit our topic and narrowed them down to the 28 articles discussed in our paper. We read each article carefully, gave it a score based on its quality, and pulled out the most important information. This included whether the chemicals the paper looked at affected how long it took to get pregnant, and if so, by how much. We then put that information into tables. Finally, we looked at whether or not results were consistent, especially among high-quality studies. We then drew our conclusions.

What happens next?

This is the second review that this team of authors has written on chemicals and time to pregnancy. Our next paper will look at whether different types of air pollution affect how long it takes to get pregnant.

Where can I learn more?

Access the full journal article titled "Persistent organic pollutants and couple fecundability: a systematic review" published in Human Reproduction Update.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Published: February 19, 2021

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ECHO Study Suggests PCBs in Soil, Water, Building Materials Increase Time Couples Need to Get Pregnant

Silicone Wristbands Capture Chemical Exposures in Early Pregnancy

Posted on January 15, 2021June 7, 2023 by Jodi Snare

Pregnant women are exposed to chemicals that may pose risks to their health or their babies’ health. However, the types of chemicals and the patterns of exposure are not well known. Therefore, ECHO researchers and Opportunities & Infrastructure Fund (OIF) investigators Brett Doherty, PhD, MSPH, and Megan Romano, PhD, MPH of Dartmouth College used silicone wristbands to collect data on chemical exposures during pregnancy. Their research, titled “Assessment of Multipollutant Exposures During Pregnancy Using Silicone Wristbands” is published in Frontiers in Public Health.

During this study, 255 women from the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) wore silicone wristbands for one week during early pregnancy. The women went about their normal activities while chemicals in their environment became trapped in the wristbands. At the end of the week, the participants returned the wristbands and the research team measured the captured chemicals.
The study found 199 unique chemicals in the wristbands worn by women in the study. A group of 16 chemicals, including chemicals in personal care products and consumer goods, was identified most often. Most women had relatively low amounts of these chemicals in their wristbands, but others had more unique combinations of chemical exposures. Education and behaviors, such as nail polish use, were predictive of the chemical exposures.

“We identified common exposures and exposure patterns in our study population, which may be studied in future research,” said Romano. The team will compare the wristband measurements to traditional measurements of chemical exposures to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of this new technology.
Additionally, the research team plans to link the chemical exposure data from the silicone wristbands to maternal and infant health outcomes and other biological data. “This linkage may indicate how chemicals influence human health and provide clues to prevent adverse health outcomes,” said Doherty.

Manish Arora: Application of Tooth Matrix Biomarkers to Environmental Biodynamics

Application of Tooth Matrix Biomarkers to Environmental Biodynamics

Speakers:

Manish Arora, PhD

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Speaker Bio:

Dr. Arora is an exposure biologist and environmental epidemiologist with training in advanced analytical chemistry methods. He was awarded an Australian government scholarship to study the uptake of environmental metal toxicants and its impact on human health. He was later accepted as postdoctoral fellow at the Environmental and Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology program at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is current a Professor and Vice Chairman of Environmental Medicine and Public Health at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, as well as Division Chief of Environmental Health, and Director of the Laboratory for Exposomic Innovation and Precision Environmental Medicine.

Dr. Arora has developed sophisticated laboratory methods to measure chemical signatures in teeth and hair as markers of environmental chemical exposures, with a focus on reconstructing early life exposure history.

Date: Wednesday, January 13, 1 to 2pm

Slides

Identifying and Addressing Limitations: The Effects of Air Pollution on Children’s Behavior and Brain Development

Posted on December 2, 2020June 7, 2023 by Jodi Snare

Heather Volk, PhD
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

In a recent article published in Environmental Research, ECHO researcher Heather Volk, PhD, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and her team summarized information on different ways to measure prenatal air pollution exposure. They also reviewed what scientists know about how air pollution affects children’s behavior and brain development.

To collect this information, the team reviewed previous publications on air pollution and child development and summarized the study results. They then took these findings and developed a plan to address shortcomings of the earlier work to advance children’s health.

The plan involves using advanced geographic models for common air pollutant exposures. Since more than 90% of ECHO cohorts have collected a physical address for their participants, ECHO has the ability to study pollutant exposures by geographic area. This has been a limitation commonly seen in this area of research. This summary data also allows researchers to determine if there may be enough ECHO participants in the future to study how air pollution can affect children’s brain development and behavior.

“This research confirms that ECHO provides a unique opportunity to study how air pollution can affect children’s brain development and behavior in a large, diverse study population,” Volk said. Given this information, the team hopes that future studies will examine prenatal air pollution exposure in ECHO participants to examine how it affects the brain.

Literature Review Finds Connection between Chemical Exposure and Time to Pregnancy

Posted on November 12, 2020June 7, 2023 by Jodi Snare

Some human-made chemicals can cause problems with the reproductive system, and several studies have looked at whether these chemicals affect how long it takes to get pregnant.

*Linda Kahn, PhD, MPH*
*NYU Langone Health*

In a literature review recently published in Human Reproduction Update, ECHO researcher Linda Kahn, PhD, MPH, of NYU Langone Health, and her research team compared the results of past studies on human-made chemicals and their impact on pregnancy. The research found a connection between certain chemicals and time to pregnancy, and also identified chemicals that need further research.

To conduct this research, the team reviewed all papers published in English on this topic from January 1, 2007 to August 6, 2019. After searching five science libraries and finding more than 4,500 articles, they narrowed it down to 28 articles with information from 19 studies that took place in North America, Europe, and East Asia.

The review found a strong connection between a chemical group called polychlorinated biphenyls, formerly used in electrical and hydraulic equipment, and longer time to pregnancy. Even though production of these chemicals stopped in the late 1970s, individuals are still exposed to them through soil, water, and building materials. More research needs to be done on brominated flame retardants, found in furniture, clothing, and other household products, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, found in non-stick cookware and stain-resistant fabrics, to determine their impact on time to pregnancy.

“This review is especially important because it shows that certain long-lasting chemicals may increase the time it takes for couples to become pregnant, which can be stressful and lead couples to seek expensive fertility treatment,” Dr. Kahn said. “Although many of the chemicals covered in the review are no longer produced or used in the United States, they can last for years—even decades—in the environment and our bodies, affecting our health.”

The team believes we need more research on newer chemicals that have been invented to replace dangerous ones to figure out exactly how these chemicals interfere with healthy reproduction. For example, there may be certain life stages such as puberty when being exposed to them may be especially damaging.

Pregnant Women Exposed to Various Chemicals, Including Chemicals in Personal Care Products and Consumer Goods

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Pregnant Women Exposed to Various Chemicals, Including Chemicals in Personal Care Products and Consumer Goods

Author(s): Brett Doherty and Megan Romano

Who sponsored this study?

Research reported in this publication was supported by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health, and grant funding.*

What were the study results?

Researchers found 199 unique chemicals in the wristbands worn by women in the study. There were 16 chemicals, including chemicals in personal care products and consumer goods, which were found most often. Most women had comparatively low amounts of exposures to these chemicals but others had more unique combinations of chemical exposures. Education and behaviors, such as nail polish use, helped predict the level of chemical exposures.

What was the study's impact?

This work helps identify opportunities and challenges for using tools like silicone wristbands to understand chemical exposures during pregnancy. The research team also identified common exposures and exposure patterns within the study population, which may be studied in future research.

Why was this study needed?

Pregnant women are exposed to chemicals that may be bad for their health or their babies’ health. At the same time, the types of chemicals and their co-occurrence are not well understood. The researchers used silicone wristbands that capture chemicals in the environment to learn more about these exposures in a group of pregnant women in northern New England.

Who was involved?

This study included 255 women enrolled in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study (NHBCS) between 2017 and 2019. The NHBCS began in 2009 and includes more than 2,000 mother and child pairs.

What happened during the study?

During early pregnancy, the women wore the wristbands and went about their normal activities while chemicals in their environment became trapped in their wristbands. The women then returned the wristbands after one week and researchers measured the captured chemicals. This provided information about the chemicals in the women’s environments.

What happens next?

The team will connect the chemical exposure information collected from the silicone wristbands to maternal and infant health outcomes. This connection may show how chemicals influence human health and provide clues to prevent health problems. The team will also compare these wristband measurements to traditional measurements of chemical exposures. This will help scientists better understand the strengths and weaknesses of this new technology.

Where can I learn more?

Access the full journal article , titled “Assessment of Multipollutant Exposures During Pregnancy Using Silicone Wristbands” published in Frontiers in Public Health.

Additional details

This work included collaboration with Dr. John Pearce, who, like Dr. Romano, is an OIF Cycle 1 Awardee. Dr. Pearce provided expertise related to the statistical methods used in this research, which he developed through his project entitled “Developing exposure characterization tools to address complex exposures within ECHO” (EC0155).

*Award Numbers include U2COD023375 (Coordinating Center), U24OD023382 (Data Analysis Center), and UH3 OD023275, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under Award Number P42ES007373. Brett T. Doherty was supported by National Cancer Institute grant R25CA134286.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Published: September 29, 2020

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Pregnant Women Exposed to Various Chemicals, Including Chemicals in Personal Care Products and Consumer Goods

ECHO Researchers Analyze Potential Toxicity of Chemicals, Discover Gaps in Chemical Research

Posted on January 3, 2020June 7, 2023 by Jodi Snare

link to articles byEdo Pellizzari — Edo Pellizzari, PhD, RTI International, ECHO Researcher

In a recent article in Environmental Health Perspectives, ECHO researchers discuss their work on identifying and ranking chemicals that have not been biomonitored nationally but may negatively affect child health. Biomonitoring is a process that detects chemicals that people are exposed to and measures how much of those chemicals get into the body.

To collect information, researchers examined different environmental elements (i.e., food, water, air, house dust) and household products that may contain toxic chemicals. Among other tasks, they put the chemicals into three groups:

Chemicals recommended for biomonitoring
Chemicals that need more information
Chemicals that are a low priority for biomonitoring

Of the identified 720 chemicals, 155 were selected for prioritization, and of these, 36 were recommended for biomonitoring, 108 need additional research, and 11 were considered low priority. The chemicals recommended for biomonitoring add to the list of those currently studied by the ECHO Program. The chemicals that did not meet the three criteria – prevalence in environmental media or biospecimens, toxicity and a biomarker for its measurement – show the gap in current chemical research.

“There is a large opportunity to expand our ability to measure and evaluate chemicals to which the public is likely exposed,” the authors note. “These opportunities include performing exposure measurements, developing methods for biomonitoring, and toxicity testing of chemicals.”

While several thousand chemicals are approved for use in the United States, there is little information on biomonitoring of exposures in pregnant women, babies, and children. This limits the ability to evaluate the potential health impact of a variety of chemicals.

Through this study, the research team hopes others in the science community will be encouraged to study the identified chemicals and improve understanding of the potential health consequences they present in pregnant women, infants, and young kids.

ECHO Review Finds No Strong Link Between Non-Persistent Chemical Exposures Found in Consumer Products and the Time It Takes Couples to Get Pregnant

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ECHO Review Finds No Strong Link Between Non-Persistent Chemical Exposures Found in Consumer Products and the Time It Takes Couples to Get Pregnant

Author(s): Alison E. Hipwell, Linda G. Kahn, Pam Factor-Litvak, et al

Who sponsored this study?

This research was supported by the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) program, Office of The Director, National Institutes of Health. This work was also supported by NIH grants P30 ES009089, R01ES013543, R01ES014393, R01ES08977, and T32ES023772.

What were the study results?

There were some signs that when either men, women, or both were exposed to certain chemicals, it took a longer for the couple to get pregnant. But more research needs to be done to truly understand those effects. There were also signs that certain chemicals did not have any effects.

*Results reported here are for a single review of specific studies during a 10-year period. Other or future studies may provide new information or different results. You should not make changes to your health without first consulting your healthcare professional.

What was the study's impact?

The papers we reviewed did not show a strong link between non-persistent chemicals and how long it takes to get pregnant. But, because there are not many studies like this, we concluded that more research is needed. While we wait for more research, it does not hurt to try to avoid certain chemicals in case they could affect the chances of becoming pregnant. We suggest common-sense lifestyle changes for men and women who would like to have a child. These include trying to avoid contact with certain non-persistent chemicals. Some ways to do this would be to use fewer plastic food containers and look at ingredient lists on personal care and cleaning products in order to avoid phthalates, parabens, TCS, benzophenones, and glycol ethers.

Why was this study needed?

Many products that people use contain non-persistent chemicals that can disrupt hormones. Non-persistent chemicals are chemicals that are broken down fairly quickly in the environment and in the human body. Therefore, non-persistent chemicals are often used in everyday household products. Some studies show these chemicals may affect people’s chance to get pregnant or may cause problems in pregnancy. These chemicals may also affect how long it takes for a couple to become pregnant, but not many studies have tried to answer this question. The goals of this study were to:

Review and summarize what is known about possible links between non-persistent chemicals and the time it takes to get pregnant.
To identify what information is missing in existing studies about this topic.
To present our results in a way that might change health policies and future research about chemicals in products that people use.

Who was involved?

This review looked at existing studies of healthy men and women who were in the age range to get pregnant. The studies were done in several different countries and ranged in size from 137 to 10,512 participants.

What happened during the study?

We used several sets of data to do a large search of research papers published from 2007 to 2017. We searched for articles about both common non-persistent chemicals and time to get pregnant. Our search found 3,456 articles. Two authors reviewed each of the articles we found to make sure they included information we needed. We found that 15 papers from 12 different studies, and then we pulled information from those for our review.

What happens next?

We are doing another review that will study whether there is a connection between chemicals that stay in the body for a long time and the time it takes to become pregnant.

Where can I learn more?

Access the full journal article titled, “Exposure to non-persistent chemicals in consumer products and fecundability: a systematic review” in Human Reproduction Update.

The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Published: January 1, 2019

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ECHO Review Finds No Strong Link Between Non-Persistent Chemical Exposures Found in Consumer Products and the Time It Takes Couples to Get Pregnant

ECHO-funded Study Sheds Light on Second- and Third-hand Smoke Exposure in Kids

Posted on December 30, 2018June 7, 2023 by Jodi Snare

A recent study funded by the ECHO Program, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and National Institute on Drug Abuse, shows that infants and toddlers in low-income, rural areas may be at higher risk for second- and third-hand smoke than previously reported in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Findings were dependent on the detectable presence of cotinine – the byproduct formed when the body breaks down nicotine – in the children’s systems.

Based on an analysis of saliva samples collected from 1,218 children, 15 percent were in the high exposure group when tested for cotinine, demonstrating levels that are comparable to active adult smokers. Forty-eight percent of the children classified as moderate exposure and 37 percent fell in the low exposure group.

Other key findings from the study include lower smoke exposure for children in center-based daycare facilities and higher smoke exposure for infants, compared with toddlers. This is partially attributed to crawling and infants’ tendencies to put objects into their mouths. Additionally, according to the study, “lower income, less education, frequent residential moves and fluctuations in the number of adults within the home were associated with high smoke exposure.”

“Our results, if supported by future studies, can help educate parents and caregivers, as well as improve prevention programs that seek to reduce children’s smoke exposure,” said Clancy Blair, Ph.D., M.P.H., a professor at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, and the senior author of the study.

The study was published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research December 5, 2018.