Abstract
Pregnancy is a critical window for long-term metabolic programming of fetal effects stemming from airborne particulate matter ≤2.5μm (PM 2.5 ) exposure. Yet, little is known about long-term metabolic effects of PM 2.5 exposure during and surrounding pregnancy in mothers. We assessed potential critical windows of PM 2.5 exposure during and surrounding pregnancy with maternal adiposity and lipid measures later in life. We included 517 pregnant women from the PROGRESS cohort with adiposity [body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), % body fat] and lipids [total cholesterol, high-density-lipoprotein (HDL), low-density-lipoprotein (LDL)] measured repeatedly at 4, 6 and 8 years post-delivery. Monthly average PM 2.5 exposure was estimated at each participant’s address using a validated spatiotemporal model. We employed distributed lag interaction models (DLIMs) adjusting for socio-demographics and clinical covariates. We found that a 1 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 exposure throughout mid-/late-pregnancy was associated with higher WC at 6-years post-delivery, peaking at 6 months of gestation: 0.04 cm (95%CI: 0.01, 0.06). We also identified critical windows of PM 2.5 exposure during and surrounding pregnancy associated with higher LDL and lower HDL both measured at 4 years post-delivery with peaks at pre-conception for LDL [0.17 mg/dL (95%CI: 0.00, 0.34)] and at the 11 th month after conception for HDL [-0.07 mg/dL (95%CI: -0.11, -0.02)]. Stratified analyses by fetal sex indicated stronger associations with adiposity measures in mothers carrying a male, whereas stronger associations were observed with lipids in mothers carrying a female fetus. Stratified analyses also indicated potential stronger deleterious lagged effects in women with folic acid intake lower than 600mcg/day during pregnancy.
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