Prenatal exposure to environmental phenolic compounds and their association with childhood atopic dermatitis, asthma, and allergic rhinitis in the ECHO cohort

Phenolic compounds may be harmful to the developing fetus, but many have not been studied in-depth for adverse childhood allergic and respiratory health effects. We hypothesized that higher levels of phenolic compounds in prenatal spot urine would be associated with greater odds of childhood atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma, and that child sex may modify these associations. 3198 mother–child paired cases were enrolled from 16 cohorts in the U.S. ECHO consortium. Fifteen phenols (e.g. benzophenones, parabens, bisphenols, triclosans) were measured from mother’s urine during pregnancy using a multi-class chemical panel. Childhood outcomes included parent-reported atopic dermatitis (1466 mother–child pairs) between ages 0–3 years, and allergic rhinitis (901 mother–child pairs) and asthma (1662 mother–child pairs) between ages 5–9 years. Prenatal parabens were associated with increased odds of atopic dermatitis (odds ratio (OR) 1.13, 95 % confidence intervals (CI) 1.02, 1.26). Benzophenones were associated with lower odds of asthma (OR 0.77, CI 0.66, 0.90). Compared to boys, girls demonstrated higher odds of parabens (1.21, CI 1.04, 1.42), benzophenones (1.18, CI 1.00, 1.38) and bisphenol S (1.21, CI 1.03, 1.43) being associated with atopic dermatitis, and of the benzophenones (1.46, CI 1.11, 1.93) being associated with allergic rhinitis. An association of benzophenones (0.66, CI 0.53, 0.83) with lower odds of asthma was stronger among boys. These findings suggest that prenatal paraben and other phenol exposures may adversely affect early-life allergic and respiratory outcomes, with sex-specific vulnerability. Novel, multi-modality approaches to reduce maternal phenol exposure during pregnancy are urgently needed to protect children’s health.