Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31675562›Full record

ArticleEnvironment international2019

Joint impact of phthalate exposure and stressful life events in pregnancy on preterm birth.

Kelly K Ferguson, Emma M Rosen, Emily S Barrett, Ruby H N Nguyen, Nicole Bush, Thomas F McElrath, Shanna H Swan, Sheela Sathyanarayana

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Environment international, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed
4.1field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

37 citing papers in PubMed, 63 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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  7. EndoCompass Project: Environmental Endocrinology.Hormone research in paediatrics · 2025
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.

Kelly K FergusonEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA. Electronic address: kelly.ferguson2@nih.gov.
Emma M RosenEpidemiology Branch, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.
Emily S BarrettDepartment of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ, USA.
Ruby H N NguyenDivision of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA.
Nicole BushDepartment of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Thomas F McElrathDivision of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Shanna H SwanDepartment of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Sheela SathyanarayanaDepartment of Pediatrics, Seattle Children's Research Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA; Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences · USHarvard University · USIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai · USRutgers, The State University of New Jersey · USSeattle Children's Hospital · USUniversity of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Minnesota · US

Funding

Translational Research Support CoreP30ES005022 · NIEHS · UNIV OF MED/DENT NJ-R W JOHNSON MED SCH · PI PANOS G. GEORGOPOULOS · 1988 to 2026
$47.4M
The Mount Sinai Transdisciplinary Center on Early Environmental ExposuresP30ES023515 · NIEHS · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI Manish Arora · 2014 to 2026
$21.3M
TIDES III: Endocrine Disruption, Hormones, and Sex Differences in Adolescent Airway HealthR01ES025169 · NIEHS · SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · PI Sheela Sathyanarayana · 2015 to 2026
$9.5M
The Infant Development and the Environmental Study (TIDES)R01ES016863 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER · PI SWAN, SHANNA H · 2009 to 2014
$4.0M
Phthalate and stressful life event exposures and pregnancy outcomes: The role of oxidative stressZIAES103313 · NIEHS · NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES · PI FERGUSON, KELLY · 2016 to 2022
$1.9M
Intramural NIH HHS ZIA ES103313NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES005022NIEHS NIH HHS P30 ES023515NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES016863NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES025169
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundUrinary phthalate metabolites and psychosocial stress in pregnancy have each been associated with preterm birth (PTB), but no study has examined the joint impact of these two environmental exposures. We hypothesized that there would be stronger associations between phthalate exposure and PTB in mothers with higher stress in pregnancy compared to mothers with lower stress.

methodsWe addressed this question using data from The Infant Development and the Environment Study (TIDES), a prospective birth cohort conducted at four US sites (N = 783). We examined urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations measured in samples collected from up to three trimesters of pregnancy. Mothers reported their exposure to stressful life events (SLE) in each trimester in a questionnaire administered in the third trimester. PTB was defined as delivery before 37 weeks completed gestation (n = 71, 9.1%). We examined associations between urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations (individual time points and on average) and PTB using logistic regression models adjusted for maternal race, age, pre-pregnancy body mass index, education, specific gravity, and gestational age at sample collection. In addition, we created models stratified by whether or not mothers were exposed to any or no SLE in pregnancy.

resultsSummed di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (ΣDEHP) metabolites measured in urine samples from the third trimester, but not the first trimester, were associated with an increased odds ratio (OR) of PTB (OR = 1.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06, 1.95). In models stratified by SLE, associations between third trimester ΣDEHP concentrations and PTB were significant only for women experiencing one or more SLE during pregnancy (OR for ΣDEHP: 2.09, 95% CI: 1.29, 3.37) but not for women with no SLE during pregnancy (OR for ΣDEHP: 1.04, 95% CI: 0.66, 1.63) (p for interaction = 0.07).

conclusionsWe observed an association between urinary ΣDEHP levels and PTB that was modified by whether a mother was exposed to one or more psychosocial stressors during pregnancy. Additional research to understand the joint impacts of chemical and non-chemical exposures, with an emphasis on timing of exposure, is needed in order to advance the state of the science on how the environment influences pregnancy.

Indexed as

Stress, PsychologicalAdultFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornMaleMaternal ExposurePhthalic AcidsPregnancyPregnancy TrimestersPremature BirthProspective StudiesSocioeconomic FactorsSurveys and QuestionnairesUnited StatesYoung Adultphthalic acidPhthalic AcidsGestational agePhthalatesPregnancyPreterm birthPsychologicalStress

Identifiers

PMID31675562
PMCPMC6924167
OpenAlexW2982596014

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.