Maternal levels of dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE) may increase weight and body mass index in adult female offspring

摘要

Objectives: To investigate the effect of prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethylene (DDE) on weight, height and body mass index (BMI) in adult female offspring of the Michigan fisheater cohort examined between 1973 and 1991.Methods: 259 mothersirom the Michigan fisheater cohort were studied. Prenatal exposure to PCBs and DDE was estimated by extrapolating maternal measurements to the time that the women gave birth. 213 daughters aged 20-50 years in 2000 were identified and 83% of them participated in at least one of two repeated investigations in 2001/02 (n = 151) and 2006/07 (n = 129). To assess the effect of prenatal PCB and DDE exposure on anthropometric measurements, generalised estimating equations nested for repeated measurements (2001/02 and 2006/07) and for sharing the same mother were used. We controlled for maternal height and BMI and for daughters' age, birth weight, having been breastfed and number of pregnancies.