ArticleBMC public health2025
Associations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons exposure with perinatal anxiety symptoms.
Article in BMC public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and perinatal outcomes: a scoping review.Pediatric research · 2026Review
- Joint impact of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, anxiety and depression exposure on birth outcomes across pre-pregnancy BMI categories.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
15 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have recently garnered attention for their possible neurotoxic effects. This study was meticulously crafted to assess the influence of PAHs exposure on the emergence of perinatal anxiety symptoms.
methodsFrom April 28, 2020, to July 20, 2021, a case-control study recruiting eligible pregnant women was conducted in two primary hospitals in Hefei City, China. Professionals employed the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale to assess the participants' anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum via WeChat. Urinary concentrations of 12 hydroxylated PAH metabolites during pregnancy and postpartum were quantified through gas chromatography-tandem triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Logistic regression analysis and mixed exposure modeling (BKMR model) were employed in our study to probe into the associations between PAHs exposure and perinatal anxiety symptoms.
resultsOur study incorporated 642 participants (279 cases and 363 controls). Multivariable logistic regression models revealed significant dose-response relationships between the levels of individual PAH metabolites in urine and prenatal anxiety symptoms. Compared to pregnant women in the lowest exposure tertile, those in the highest tertiles of urinary concentrations of 2-OHNA, 9-OHFLU, ∑OHFLU, 2-OHDBF, and ∑OH-PAHs had increased risk of experiencing prenatal anxiety (OR = 1.915, 95%CI: 1.271-2.886; OR = 2.084, 95%CI: 1.358-3.199; OR = 2.055, 95%CI: 1.355-3.117; OR = 1.675, 95%CI: 1.119-2.507; OR = 1.870, 95%CI: 1.228-2.847, respectively). BKMR analysis indicated a significant trend of increasing likelihood of prenatal anxiety symptoms with higher levels of the OH-PAHs mixture. Meanwhile, follow-up of 230 pregnant women until 42 days postpartum revealed that increased prenatal urinary concentrations of 2-OHFLU and ∑OHFLU were associated with a higher risk of postpartum anxiety symptoms (OR = 2.101, 95%CI: 1.000-4.414 for the medium vs. low 2-OHFLU exposure; OR = 2.277, 95%CI: 1.080-4.799 for the high vs. low ∑OHFLU exposure, respectively).
conclusionsOur study brings to light a potentially strong positive link between PAHs exposure and perinatal anxiety symptoms.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.