Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38483929›Full record

ArticlePloS one2024

Prenatal phthalate exposure and sex steroid hormones in newborns: Taiwan Maternal and Infant Cohort Study.

Chin-Li Lu, Hui-Ju Wen, Mei-Lien Chen, Chien-Wen Sun, Chia-Jung Hsieh, Ming-Tsang Wu, Shu-Li Wang, TMICS study group

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
3.5field-weighted citation impact, top 8% 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

9 citing papers in PubMed, 11 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Associations of endocrine disrupting chemicals with anogenital distance across infancy.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026
    Observational
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Foetal Exposure to Phthalates and Endocrine Effects on the Leydig Cell.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2025
    Review
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
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 6 institutions in 1 country.

Chin-Li LuGraduate Institute of Food Safety, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
Hui-Ju WenNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1268-3120
Mei-Lien ChenInstitute of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, College of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Chien-Wen SunNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.
Chia-Jung HsiehDepartment of Public Health, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan.
Ming-Tsang WuGraduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Shu-Li WangNational Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli, Taiwan.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0686-4729
TMICS study group
National Health Research Institutes · TWKaohsiung Medical University · TWNational Chung Hsing University · TWNational United University · TWNational Yang Ming Chiao Tung University · TWTzu Chi University · TW

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNewborn anogenital distance (AGD) has been associated with prenatal exposure of phthalates. The association between prenatal phthalate exposure and sex steroid hormones in newborns is unclear. OBJECT: This study aimed to examine whether cord-blood sex hormone levels were associated with prenatal phthalate exposure and newborn anogenital distance (AGD).

methodsIn the Taiwan Maternal and Infant Cohort Study, we recruited 1,676 pregnant women in their third trimester in 2012-2015 in Taiwan. We determined 11 urinary phthalate metabolites in pregnant women, three maternal and five cord-blood steroid sex-hormone concentrations. Five hundred and sixty-five mother-infant pairs with sufficient data were included. Trained neonatologists measured 263 newborns' AGD. We examined the associations of prenatal phthalate metabolite levels with AGD and hormones using linear regression models and evaluated correlations between maternal and cord-blood sex hormone levels and AGD.

resultsCompared with the male newborns exposed to maternal phthalate metabolites at the first tertile, AGD was -3.75, -3.43, and -3.53 mm shorter among those exposed at the median tertile of di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) metabolites, monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), and monomethyl phthalate (MMP), respectively. Compared with those who had exposed at the first tertile, cord-blood follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) decreased among male newborns exposed at higher levels of MMP, mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), MBzP and DEHP, and among female newborns exposed at higher levels of MMP, MBzP and mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate. However, we did not observe significant correlations of maternal or cord-blood sex steroid hormones with newborns' AGDs.

conclusionsAlterations in cord-blood sex steroid hormone levels were associated with prenatal phthalate exposures, particularly in male newborns. Women aspiring to be pregnant should be alerted of the need of reducing phthalate exposure.

Indexed as

Diethylhexyl PhthalateEnvironmental PollutantsPhthalic AcidsCohort StudiesEnvironmental ExposureFemaleGonadal Steroid HormonesHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleMaternal ExposurePregnancyTaiwanDiethylhexyl PhthalateEnvironmental PollutantsGonadal Steroid Hormonesphthalic acidPhthalic Acids

Identifiers

PMID38483929
PMCPMC10939196
OpenAlexW4392797545

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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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.