Gestational Exposure to 10 Classes of Priority Chemicals and Birth Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort - Report - MDSpire

Gestational Exposure to 10 Classes of Priority Chemicals and Birth Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort

  • By

  • Jessie P. Buckley

  • Diana C. Pacyga

  • Xiaoshuang Xun

  • Dana Boyd Barr

  • Emily S. Barrett

  • Theresa Bastain

  • Deborah H. Bennett

  • Joseph M. Braun

  • Carrie V. Breton

  • Courtney Carignan

  • Lisa A. Croen

  • Anne L. Dunlop

  • Shohreh F. Farzan

  • Assiamira Ferrara

  • Frank D. Gilliland

  • Julie B. Herbstman

  • Margaret R. Karagas

  • Catherine J. Karr

  • Jordan R. Kuiper

  • John D. Meeker

  • Rachel L. Miller

  • Rachel Morello-Frosch

  • Thomas G. O’Connor

  • Jiwon Oh

  • Frederica P. Perera

  • Christina A. Porucznik

  • Megan E. Romano

  • Sheela Sathyanarayana

  • Susan L. Schantz

  • Rebecca J. Schmidt

  • Allison R. Sherris

  • Leonardo Trasande

  • Heather Volk

  • Deborah J. Watkins

  • Qi Zhao

  • Yeyi Zhu

  • Zhongmin Li

  • Edo Pellizzari

  • Kurunthachalam Kannan

  • Tracey J. Woodruff

  • Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Consortium

  • P Brian Smith

  • L Kristin Newby

  • Linda Adair

  • Lisa P. Jacobson

  • Diane Catellier

  • Monica McGrath

  • Christian Douglas

  • Priya Duggal

  • Emily Knapp

  • Amii Kress

  • Courtney K. Blackwell

  • Maxwell A. Mansolf

  • Jin-Shei Lai

  • Emily Ho

  • David Cella

  • Richard Gershon

  • Michelle L. Macy

  • Suman R. Das

  • Jane E. Freedman

  • Simon A. Mallal

  • John A. McLean

  • Ravi V. Shah

  • Meghan H. Shilts

  • Akram N. Alshawabkeh

  • Jose F. Cordero

  • John Meeker

  • Carlos A. Camargo

  • Kohei Hasegawa

  • Zhaozhong Zhu

  • Ashley F. Sullivan

  • Dana Dabelea

  • Wei Perng

  • Traci A. Bekelman

  • Greta Wilkening

  • Sheryl Magzamen

  • Brianna F. Moore

  • Anne P. Starling

  • Deborah J. Rinehart

  • Daphne Koinis Mitchell

  • Viren D'Sa

  • Sean C.L. Deoni

  • Hans-Georg Mueller

  • Cristiane S. Duarte

  • Catherine Monk

  • Glorisa Canino

  • Jonathan Posner

  • Tenneill Murray

  • Claudia Lugo-Candelas

  • Patricia A. Brennan

  • Christine Hockett

  • Amy Elliott

  • Lisa A. Croen

  • Monique M. Hedderson

  • John Ainsworth

  • Leonard B. Bacharier

  • Casper G. Bendixsen

  • James E. Gern

  • Diane R. Gold

  • Tina V. Hartert

  • Daniel J. Jackson

  • Christine C. Johnson

  • Christine L.M. Joseph

  • Meyer Kattan

  • Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey

  • Robert F. Lemanske, Jr.

  • Susan V. Lynch

  • Rachel L. Miller

  • George T. O’Connor

  • Carole Ober

  • Dennis Ownby

  • Katherine Rivera-Spoljaric

  • Patrick H. Ryan

  • Christine M. Seroogy

  • Anne Marie Singh

  • Robert A. Wood

  • Edward M. Zoratti

  • Rima Habre

  • Shohreh Farzan

  • Frank D. Gilliland

  • Irva Hertz-Picciotto

  • Julie B. Schweitzer

  • Janine M. LaSalle

  • Alison E. Hipwell

  • Nicole R. Bush

  • Kaja Z. LeWinn

  • Sheela Sathyanarayana

  • Frances Tylavsky

  • Kecia N. Carroll

  • Christine T. Loftus

  • Leslie D. Leve

  • Jody M. Ganiban

  • Jenae M. Neiderhiser

  • Scott T. Weiss

  • Augusto A. Litonjua

  • Cindy T. McEvoy

  • Eliot R. Spindel

  • Robert S. Tepper

  • Craig J. Newschaffer

  • Kristen Lyall

  • Heather E. Volk

  • Rebecca Landa

  • Sally Ozonoff

  • Joseph Piven

  • Heather Hazlett

  • Juhi Pandey

  • Robert Schultz

  • Steven Dager

  • Kelly Botteron

  • Daniel Messinger

  • Wendy Stone

  • Jennifer Ames

  • Thomas G. O'Connor

  • Richard K. Miller

  • Emily Oken

  • Michele R. Hacker

  • Tamarra James-Todd

  • T. Michael O'Shea

  • Rebecca C. Fry

  • Jean A. Frazier

  • Rachana Singh

  • Caitlin Rollins

  • Angela Montgomery

  • Ruben Vaidya

  • Robert M. Joseph

  • Lisa K. Washburn

  • Semsa Gogcu

  • Kelly Bear

  • Julie V. Rollins

  • Stephen R. Hooper

  • Genevieve Taylor

  • Wesley Jackson

  • Amanda Thompson

  • Julie Daniels

  • Michelle Hernandez

  • Kun Lu

  • Michael Msall

  • Madeleine Lenski

  • Rawad Obeid

  • Steven L. Pastyrnak

  • Elizabeth Jensen

  • Christina Sakai

  • Hudson Santos

  • Jean M. Kerver

  • Nigel Paneth

  • Charles J. Barone

  • Michael R. Elliott

  • Douglas M. Ruden

  • Chris Fussman

  • Amy Margolis

  • Sarah Dee Geiger

  • Andrea Aguiar

  • Karen Tabb

  • Rita Strakovsky

  • Tracey Woodruff

  • Amy Padula

  • Joseph B. Stanford

  • Angelo P. Giardino

  • Rosalind J. Wright

  • Robert O. Wright

  • Brent Collett

  • Nicole Baumann-Blackmore

  • Ronald Gangnon

  • Chris G. McKennan

  • Jo Wilson

  • Matt Altman

  • Judy L. Aschner

  • Annemarie Stroustrup

  • Stephanie L. Merhar

  • Paul E. Moore

  • Gloria S. Pryhuber

  • Mark Hudak

  • Ann Marie Reynolds Lyndaker

  • Andrea L. Lampland

  • Burton Rochelson

  • Sophia Jan

  • Matthew J. Blitz

  • Michelle W. Katzow

  • Zenobia Brown

  • Codruta Chiuzan

  • Timothy Rafael

  • Dawnette Lewis

  • Natalie Meirowitz

  • Brenda Poindexter

  • Tebeb Gebretsadik

  • Sarah Osmundson

  • Jennifer K. Straughen

  • Amy Eapen

  • Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow

  • Ganesa Wegienka

  • Alex Sitarik

  • Kim Woodcroft

  • Audrey Urquhart

  • Albert Levin

  • Tisa Johnson-Hooper

  • Brent Davidson

  • Tengfei Ma

  • Martin J. Blaser

  • Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello

  • Daniel B. Horton

  • Manuel Jimenez

  • Todd Rosen

  • Kristy Palomares

  • Lyndsay A. Avalos

  • Kelly J . Hunt

  • Roger B. Newman

  • Michael S. Bloom

  • Mallory H. Alkis

  • James R. Roberts

  • Sunni L. Mumford

  • Heather H. Burris

  • Sara B. DeMauro

  • Lynn M. Yee

  • Aaron Hamvas

  • Antonia F. Olidipo

  • Andrew S. Haddad

  • Lisa R. Eiland

  • Nicole T. Spillane

  • Kirin N. Suri

  • Stephanie A. Fisher

  • Jeffrey A. Goldstein

  • Leena B. Mithal

  • Raye-Ann O. DeRegnier

  • Nathalie L. Maitre

  • Ruby H.N. Nguyen

  • Meghan M. JaKa

  • Abbey C. Sidebottom

  • Michael J. Paidas

  • JoNell E. Potter

  • Natale Ruby

  • Lunthita Duthely

  • Arumugam Jayakumar

  • Karen Young

  • Isabel Maldonado

  • Meghan Miller

  • Jonathan L. Slaughter

  • Sarah A. Keim

  • Courtney D. Lynch

  • Kartik K. Venkatesh

  • Kristina W. Whitworth

  • Elaine Symanski

  • Thomas F. Northrup

  • Hector Mendez-Figueroa

  • Ricardo A. Mosquera

  • Juliette C. Madan

  • Debra M. MacKenzie

  • Johnnye L. Lewis

  • Brandon J. Rennie

  • Bennett L. Leventhal

  • Young Shin Kim

  • Somer Bishop

  • Sara S. Nozadi

  • Li Luo

  • Barry M. Lester

  • Carmen J. Marsit

  • Todd Everson

  • Cynthia M. Loncar

  • Elisabeth C. McGowan

  • Stephen J. Sheinkopf

  • Brian S. Carter

  • Jennifer Check

  • Jennifer B. Helderman

  • Charles R. Neal

  • Lynne M. Smith

  • June 17, 2026

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Impact of Maternal Exposure to Ten Classes of Priority Chemicals on Birth Outcomes in the ECHO Study

Overview

This study investigates the associations between maternal exposure to various chemical classes during pregnancy and birth outcomes, specifically gestational age and birth weight. Utilizing urine samples from a large cohort, the findings are based on the analysis of chemical exposures in pregnancy.

Background

Pregnant women in the US are exposed to numerous chemicals that can cross the placenta, potentially affecting fetal development and increasing the risk of adverse outcomes. Understanding these exposures is critical, as they can influence gestational age and birth weight, both of which are important indicators of neonatal health. Despite the prevalence of chemical exposure, many substances remain understudied regarding their health effects.

Data Highlights

The study analyzed urine samples from 5318 women with singleton infants, assessing 113 analytes from 10 chemical classes.

Key Findings

  • Higher gestational exposures to prioritized chemicals were hypothesized to alter gestational age and birth weight-for-gestational age (BW-GA) z scores.
  • The ECHO Cohort included over 60,000 children, with urine samples collected mid-pregnancy for analysis.
  • Urinary concentrations of chemicals were quantified using advanced analytical methods.
  • Gestational age at birth was categorized into preterm, early term, full term, and late term for analysis.
  • Birth weight was categorized as small for gestational age, appropriate for gestational age, or large for gestational age.

Clinical Implications

Clinicians should consider the factors associated with chemical exposures during pregnancy when assessing maternal and neonatal health.

Conclusion

The findings from this study indicate the need for monitoring chemical exposures during pregnancy and their potential impact on birth outcomes.

Related Resources & Content

  1. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2023 -- Recruitment process for studying occupational and environmental chemical exposures in a birth cohort study in Ecuador: challenges dealing with a stratified sample
  2. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 2023 -- Can exposure to chemical products be reduced during pregnancy?
  3. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2023 -- Impact of Prenatal Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers on Urinary Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress in the Chemicals in Our Bodies Study
  4. Tailored Prenatal Care Delivery for Pregnant Individuals | ACOG, 2025
  5. Air Pollution Exposure and Birth Weight in the ECHO Cohort | Environmental Health | JAMA Network, 2023
  6. American Journal of Epidemiology — Impact of Maternal Metal Exposure During Early Pregnancy on Childhood Lung Function and Asthma: Findings from Project Viva
  7. Tailored Prenatal Care Delivery for Pregnant Individuals | ACOG
  8. Air Pollution Exposure and Birth Weight in the ECHO Cohort | Environmental Health | JAMA Network Open | JAMA Network
  9. Maternal perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure and preeclampsia: a systematic review and meta-analysis | BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth | Springer Nature Link

Original Source(s)

Gestational Exposure to 10 Classes of Priority Chemicals and Birth Outcomes in the ECHO Cohort

  • by Jessie P. Buckley, Diana C. Pacyga, Xiaoshuang Xun, Dana Boyd Barr, Emily S. Barrett, Theresa Bastain, Deborah H. Bennett, Joseph M. Braun, Carrie V. Breton, Courtney Carignan, Lisa A. Croen, Anne L. Dunlop, Shohreh F. Farzan, Assiamira Ferrara, Frank D. Gilliland, Julie B. Herbstman, Margaret R. Karagas, Catherine J. Karr, Jordan R. Kuiper, John D. Meeker, Rachel L. Miller, Rachel Morello-Frosch, Thomas G. O’Connor, Jiwon Oh, Frederica P. Perera, Christina A. Porucznik, Megan E. Romano, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Susan L. Schantz, Rebecca J. Schmidt, Allison R. Sherris, Leonardo Trasande, Heather Volk, Deborah J. Watkins, Qi Zhao, Yeyi Zhu, Zhongmin Li, Edo Pellizzari, Kurunthachalam Kannan, Tracey J. Woodruff, Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Cohort Consortium, P Brian Smith, L Kristin Newby, Linda Adair, Lisa P. Jacobson, Diane Catellier, Monica McGrath, Christian Douglas, Priya Duggal, Emily Knapp, Amii Kress, Courtney K. Blackwell, Maxwell A. Mansolf, Jin-Shei Lai, Emily Ho, David Cella, Richard Gershon, Michelle L. Macy, Suman R. Das, Jane E. Freedman, Simon A. Mallal, John A. McLean, Ravi V. Shah, Meghan H. Shilts, Akram N. Alshawabkeh, Jose F. Cordero, John Meeker, Carlos A. Camargo, Kohei Hasegawa, Zhaozhong Zhu, Ashley F. Sullivan, Dana Dabelea, Wei Perng, Traci A. Bekelman, Greta Wilkening, Sheryl Magzamen, Brianna F. Moore, Anne P. Starling, Deborah J. Rinehart, Daphne Koinis Mitchell, Viren D'Sa, Sean C.L. Deoni, Hans-Georg Mueller, Cristiane S. Duarte, Catherine Monk, Glorisa Canino, Jonathan Posner, Tenneill Murray, Claudia Lugo-Candelas, Patricia A. Brennan, Christine Hockett, Amy Elliott, Lisa A. Croen, Monique M. Hedderson, John Ainsworth, Leonard B. Bacharier, Casper G. Bendixsen, James E. Gern, Diane R. Gold, Tina V. Hartert, Daniel J. Jackson, Christine C. Johnson, Christine L.M. Joseph, Meyer Kattan, Gurjit K. Khurana Hershey, Robert F. Lemanske, Jr., Susan V. Lynch, Rachel L. Miller, George T. O’Connor, Carole Ober, Dennis Ownby, Katherine Rivera-Spoljaric, Patrick H. Ryan, Christine M. Seroogy, Anne Marie Singh, Robert A. Wood, Edward M. Zoratti, Rima Habre, Shohreh Farzan, Frank D. Gilliland , Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Julie B. Schweitzer, Janine M. LaSalle, Alison E. Hipwell, Nicole R. Bush, Kaja Z. LeWinn, Sheela Sathyanarayana, Frances Tylavsky, Kecia N. Carroll, Christine T. Loftus, Leslie D. Leve, Jody M. Ganiban, Jenae M. Neiderhiser, Scott T. Weiss, Augusto A. Litonjua, Cindy T. McEvoy, Eliot R. Spindel, Robert S. Tepper, Craig J. Newschaffer, Kristen Lyall, Heather E. Volk, Rebecca Landa, Sally Ozonoff, Joseph Piven, Heather Hazlett, Juhi Pandey, Robert Schultz, Steven Dager, Kelly Botteron, Daniel Messinger, Wendy Stone, Jennifer Ames, Thomas G. O'Connor, Richard K. Miller, Emily Oken, Michele R. Hacker, Tamarra James-Todd, T. Michael O'Shea, Rebecca C. Fry, Jean A. Frazier, Rachana Singh, Caitlin Rollins, Angela Montgomery, Ruben Vaidya, Robert M. Joseph, Lisa K. Washburn, Semsa Gogcu, Kelly Bear, Julie V. Rollins, Stephen R. Hooper, Genevieve Taylor, Wesley Jackson, Amanda Thompson, Julie Daniels, Michelle Hernandez, Kun Lu, Michael Msall, Madeleine Lenski, Rawad Obeid, Steven L. Pastyrnak, Elizabeth Jensen, Christina Sakai, Hudson Santos, Jean M. Kerver, Nigel Paneth, Charles J. Barone, Michael R. Elliott, Douglas M. Ruden, Chris Fussman, Amy Margolis, Sarah Dee Geiger, Andrea Aguiar, Karen Tabb, Rita Strakovsky, Tracey Woodruff, Amy Padula, Joseph B. Stanford, Angelo P. Giardino, Rosalind J. Wright, Robert O. Wright, Brent Collett, Nicole Baumann-Blackmore, Ronald Gangnon, Chris G. McKennan, Jo Wilson, Matt Altman, Judy L. Aschner, Annemarie Stroustrup, Stephanie L. Merhar, Paul E. Moore, Gloria S. Pryhuber, Mark Hudak, Ann Marie Reynolds Lyndaker, Andrea L. Lampland, Burton Rochelson, Sophia Jan, Matthew J. Blitz, Michelle W. Katzow, Zenobia Brown, Codruta Chiuzan, Timothy Rafael, Dawnette Lewis, Natalie Meirowitz, Brenda Poindexter, Tebeb Gebretsadik, Sarah Osmundson, Jennifer K. Straughen, Amy Eapen, Andrea Cassidy-Bushrow, Ganesa Wegienka, Alex Sitarik, Kim Woodcroft, Audrey Urquhart, Albert Levin, Tisa Johnson-Hooper, Brent Davidson, Tengfei Ma, Martin J. Blaser, Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Daniel B. Horton, Manuel Jimenez, Todd Rosen, Kristy Palomares, Lyndsay A. Avalos, Kelly J . Hunt, Roger B. Newman, Michael S. Bloom, Mallory H. Alkis, James R. Roberts, Sunni L. Mumford, Heather H. Burris, Sara B. DeMauro, Lynn M. Yee, Aaron Hamvas, Antonia F. Olidipo, Andrew S. Haddad, Lisa R. Eiland, Nicole T. Spillane, Kirin N. Suri, Stephanie A. Fisher, Jeffrey A. Goldstein, Leena B. Mithal, Raye-Ann O. DeRegnier, Nathalie L. Maitre, Ruby H.N. Nguyen, Meghan M. JaKa, Abbey C. Sidebottom, Michael J. Paidas , JoNell E. Potter, Natale Ruby, Lunthita Duthely , Arumugam Jayakumar, Karen Young, Isabel Maldonado, Meghan Miller, Jonathan L. Slaughter, Sarah A. Keim, Courtney D. Lynch, Kartik K. Venkatesh, Kristina W. Whitworth, Elaine Symanski, Thomas F. Northrup, Hector Mendez-Figueroa, Ricardo A. Mosquera, Juliette C. Madan, Debra M. MacKenzie, Johnnye L. Lewis, Brandon J. Rennie, Bennett L. Leventhal, Young Shin Kim, Somer Bishop, Sara S. Nozadi, Li Luo, Barry M. Lester, Carmen J. Marsit, Todd Everson, Cynthia M. Loncar, Elisabeth C. McGowan, Stephen J. Sheinkopf, Brian S. Carter, Jennifer Check, Jennifer B. Helderman, Charles R. Neal, Lynne M. Smith

  • June 17, 2026

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