ArticlePloS one2012
Fetal window of vulnerability to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on proportional intrauterine growth restriction.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dietary Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Consumption and Risk of Adverse Birth Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Environmental health perspectives · 2024Pooled it
- Indoor exposure and adverse birth outcomes related to fetal growth, miscarriage and prematurity-a systematic review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2014Pooled it
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and perinatal outcomes: a scoping review.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contribute to inflammation in a pregnancy cohort.Environmental research, health : ERH · 2026Article
- IGFBP3 repression driven by inflammation links air pollution to placental and developmental defects.EMBO molecular medicine · 2026Article
- Environmental Nephrotoxicity Across the Life Course: Oxidative Stress Mechanisms and Opportunities for Early Intervention.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Prenatal pyrethroid exposure, placental gene network modules, and neonatal neurobehavior.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2025Article
- Associations between urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon biomarker concentrations and birth outcomes in the LIFECODES cohort.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2025Article
- Impact of endocrine disrupting chemical exposure on thyroid disruption and oxidative stress in early pregnancy.Environmental analysis, health and toxicology · 2025Article
- Kidney Programming and Hypertension: Linking Prenatal Development to Adulthood.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- An evaluation of in utero polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on the neonatal meconium microbiome.Environmental research · 2024Article
- Prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure and neurodevelopment among children in Puerto Rico.Chemosphere · 2024Article
- Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites and their association with oxidative stress among pregnant women in Los Angeles.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Article
- Associations between urinary hydroxylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon biomarker concentrations and measures of timing of delivery and infant size at birth.Environment international · 2024Article
- Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites and their association with oxidative stress among pregnant women in Los Angeles.Research square · 2024Article
- Prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and growth parameters.Journal of applied biomedicine · 2024Article
- In-utero personal exposure to PMEnvironmental advances · 2022Article
- Variability and correlations of synthetic chemicals in urine from a New York City-based cohort of pregnant women.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2022Article
- Feasibility of continuous distal body temperature for passive, early pregnancy detection.PLOS digital health · 2022Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlthough the entire duration of fetal development is generally considered a highly susceptible period, it is of public health interest to determine a narrower window of heightened vulnerability to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in humans. We posited that exposure to PAHs during the first trimester impairs fetal growth more severely than a similar level of exposure during the subsequent trimesters.
methodsIn a group of healthy, non-smoking pregnant women with no known risks of adverse birth outcomes, personal exposure to eight airborne PAHs was monitored once during the second trimester for the entire cohort (n = 344), and once each trimester within a subset (n = 77). Both air monitoring and self-reported PAH exposure data were used in order to statistically estimate PAH exposure during the entire gestational period for each individual newborn.
resultsOne natural-log unit increase in prenatal exposure to the eight summed PAHs during the first trimester was associated with the largest decrement in the Fetal Growth Ratio (FGR) (-3%, 95% Confidence Interval (CI), -5 to -0%), birthweight (-105 g, 95% CI, -188 to -22 g), and birth length (-0.78 cm, 95% CI, -1.30 to -0.26 cm), compared to the unit effects of PAHs during the subsequent trimesters, after accounting for confounders. Furthermore, a unit exposure during the first trimester was associated with the largest elevation in Cephalization Index (head to weight ratio) (3 μm/g, 95% CI, 1 to 5 μm/g). PAH exposure was not associated with evidence of asymmetric growth restriction in this cohort.
conclusionPAH exposure appears to exert the greatest adverse effect on fetal growth during the first trimester. The present data support the need for the protection of pregnant women and the embryo/fetus, particularly during the earliest stage of pregnancy.
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Registered trials
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