Prenatal dietary exposure to mixtures of chemicals is associated with allergy or respiratory diseases in children in the ELFE nationwide cohort

Manel Ghozal (1) , Manik Kadawathagedara (1) , Rosalie Delvert (2) , Amandine Divaret-Chauveau (3, 4, 5) , Chantal Raherison (6, 7) , Raphaëlle Varraso (2) , Annabelle Bédard (2) , Amélie Crépet (8) , Véronique Sirot (8) , Marie Aline Charles (1) , Karine Adel-Patient (9) , Blandine de Lauzon-Guillain (1)

1 EAROH [CRESS - U1153 / UMR_A 1125] - Research team on early life origins of health | Recherche sur les déterminants précoces de la santé
2 CESP - Centre de recherche en épidémiologie et santé des populations
3 DevAH - Développement, Adaptation et Handicap. Régulations cardio-respiratoires et de la motricité
4 LCE - Laboratoire Chrono-environnement (UMR 6249)
5 Service d’allergologie pédiatrique [CHRU de Nancy]
6 EPICENE - Cancer environnement
7 BPH - Bordeaux population health
8 DER - Direction de l'Evaluation des Risques
9 MTS - Médicaments et Technologies pour la Santé

Introduction Prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals may be associated with allergies later in life. We aimed to examine the association between prenatal dietary exposure to mixtures of chemicals and allergic or respiratory diseases up to age 5.5 y. Methods We included 11,638 mother-child pairs from the French “Étude Longitudinale Française depuis l’Enfance” (ELFE) cohort. Maternal dietary exposure during pregnancy to eight mixtures of chemicals was previously assessed. Allergic and respiratory diseases (eczema, food allergy, wheezing and asthma) were reported by parents between birth and age 5.5 years. Associations were evaluated with adjusted logistic regressions. Results are expressed as odds ratio (OR[95%CI]) for a variation of one SD increase in mixture pattern. Results Maternal dietary exposure to a mixture composed mainly of trace elements, furans and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was positively associated with the risk of eczema (1.10 [1.05; 1.15]), this association was consistent across sensitivity analyses. Dietary exposure to one mixture of pesticides was positively associated with the risk of food allergy (1.10 [1.02; 1.18]), whereas the exposure to another mixture of pesticides was positively but slightly related to the risk of wheezing (1.05 [1.01; 1.08]). This last association was not found in all sensitivity analyses. Dietary exposure to a mixture composed by perfluoroalkyl acids, PAHs and trace elements was negatively associated with the risk of asthma (0.89 [0.80; 0.99]), this association was consistent across sensitivity analyses, except the complete-case analysis. Conclusion Whereas few individual chemicals were related to the risk of allergic and respiratory diseases, some consistent associations were found between prenatal dietary exposure to some mixtures of chemicals and the risk of allergic or respiratory diseases. The positive association between trace elements, furans and PAHs and the risk of eczema, and that between pesticides mixtures and food allergy need to be confirmed in other studies. Conversely, the negative association between perfluoroalkyl acids, PAHs and trace elements and the risk of asthma need to be further explored.

Mots clés: Allergy; Birth cohort; Food chemicals; Mixtures; Prenatal exposure; Respiratory diseases

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Alimentation et Nutrition; Toxicologie et chaîne alimentaire

Manel Ghozal, Manik Kadawathagedara, Rosalie Delvert, Amandine Divaret-Chauveau, Chantal Raherison, et al.. Prenatal dietary exposure to mixtures of chemicals is associated with allergy or respiratory diseases in children in the ELFE nationwide cohort. Environmental Health, 2024, 23 (1), pp.5. ⟨10.1186/s12940-023-01046-y⟩. ⟨anses-04426377⟩