First and second trimester concentrations of environmental phenols in association with gestational weight gain in the ECHO Cohort
10 affiliations
- 1Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Pleasanton, CA
- 2Center for Upstream Prevention of Adiposity and Diabetes Mellitus (UPSTREAM), Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Pleasanton, CA
- 3NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY
- 4Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
- 5Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
- 6Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
- 7Wadsworth Center, New York State Dept of Health, Albany, NY
- 8Utah State University, Logan, UT
- 9Lifecourse Epidemiology of Adiposity and Diabetes (LEAD) Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
- 10Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA
Abstract
Inconsistent evidence links pregnancy concentrations of environmental phenols to altered gestational weight gain. We analyzed maternal urinary concentrations of 10 phenols in first trimester and 12 phenols in second trimester in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort study sites (n = 3960). Phenols ≥85% above the limit of detection (LOD) were modeled continuously; phenols with 55% - 85% of samples > LOD were modeled as three categories; and phenols with <55% of samples > LOD were modeled as detected/non-detected. We used generalized estimating equations models to evaluate associations between each phenol and gestational weight gain (difference between pre-pregnancy and delivery weight). Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression assessed associations of the second trimester phenol mixture with gestational weight gain. We also evaluated effect modification by pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI). First trimester concentrations of many phenols, including bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), benzophenone-3 (BP3), ∑bisphenols (∑BPA, BPS, bisphenol F), and ∑parabens (ethyl, methyl, propyl, butyl paraben) were associated with greater total gestational weight gain. For example, each doubling in ∑bisphenols and ∑parabens were associated with 0.28 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18, 0.39) kg and 0.45 (95%CI: 0.07, 0.83) kg greater gestational weight gain, respectively. In contrast, associations between second trimester concentrations of phenols and total gestational weight gain were generally null both for individual phenols and the phenol mixture. Associations were not consistently modified by pre-pregnancy BMI. Early pregnancy exposure to environmental phenols is associated with greater gestational weight gain. Further investigation into potential windows for endocrine disruption is warranted.
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BibTeX
@article{mitro2026first,
title = {{First and second trimester concentrations of environmental phenols in association with gestational weight gain in the ECHO Cohort}},
author = {Susanna D. Mitro and Juanran Feng and Stacey Alexeeff and Linda G. Kahn and Jennifer Ames and Emily S. Barrett and Courtney C. Carignan and Sarah Dee Geiger and Kurunthachalam Kannan and Carolyn W. Kinkade and Eduardo A. Ortiz and Mia Q. Peng and Alicia K. Peterson and Rita S. Strakovsky and Yeyi Zhu and Assiamira Ferrara and Monique Hedderson},
journal = {Environmental research},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.envres.2026.125767},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2026.125767},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - First and second trimester concentrations of environmental phenols in association with gestational weight gain in the ECHO Cohort
AU - Susanna D. Mitro
AU - Juanran Feng
AU - Stacey Alexeeff
AU - Linda G. Kahn
AU - Jennifer Ames
AU - Emily S. Barrett
AU - Courtney C. Carignan
AU - Sarah Dee Geiger
AU - Kurunthachalam Kannan
AU - Carolyn W. Kinkade
AU - Eduardo A. Ortiz
AU - Mia Q. Peng
AU - Alicia K. Peterson
AU - Rita S. Strakovsky
AU - Yeyi Zhu
AU - Assiamira Ferrara
AU - Monique Hedderson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
JO - Environmental research
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2026.125767
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2026.125767
AB - Inconsistent evidence links pregnancy concentrations of environmental phenols to altered gestational weight gain. We analyzed maternal urinary concentrations of 10 phenols in first trimester and 12 phenols in second trimester in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) cohort study sites (n = 3960). Phenols ≥85% above the limit of detection (LOD) were modeled continuously; phenols with 55% - 85% of samples > LOD were modeled as three categories; and phenols with <55% of samples > LOD were modeled as detected/non-detected. We used generalized estimating equations models to evaluate associations between each phenol and gestational weight gain (difference between pre-pregnancy and delivery weight). Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression assessed associations of the second trimester phenol mixture with gestational weight gain. We also evaluated effect modification by pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI). First trimester concentrations of many phenols, including bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS), benzophenone-3 (BP3), ∑bisphenols (∑BPA, BPS, bisphenol F), and ∑parabens (ethyl, methyl, propyl, butyl paraben) were associated with greater total gestational weight gain. For example, each doubling in ∑bisphenols and ∑parabens were associated with 0.28 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18, 0.39) kg and 0.45 (95%CI: 0.07, 0.83) kg greater gestational weight gain, respectively. In contrast, associations between second trimester concentrations of phenols and total gestational weight gain were generally null both for individual phenols and the phenol mixture. Associations were not consistently modified by pre-pregnancy BMI. Early pregnancy exposure to environmental phenols is associated with greater gestational weight gain. Further investigation into potential windows for endocrine disruption is warranted.
SN - 0013-9351
SN - 1096-0953
ER -