Background

Organophosphate pesticides (OPs) have been found to be associated with endocrine disorders, but limited research has been conducted to evaluate the relationship between maternal OP exposure and fetal reproductive hormone levels. In this study, we investigated the association between prenatal OP exposure and fetal reproductive hormones.

Methods

A total of 306 healthy pregnant women were enrolled between September 2010 and February 2012. Pesticide exposure was assessed via the analysis of maternal urinary nonspecific metabolites of OPs (dialkylphosphate, DAP), and four reproductive hormones were measured in cord blood. Linear regression models and generalized linear models were used to estimate the associations between DAP metabolites and reproductive hormones, and further stratified by infant sex.

Results

We found that concentrations of diethylphosphate (DEP) (β = −0.03; 95% CI: −0.07, −0.00) were inversely associated with estradiol (E2). Dimethylphosphate (DMP) (β = −0.08; 95% CI: −0.13, −0.03), diethylthiophosphate (DETP) (β = −0.08; 95% CI: −0.14, −0.01), and DAPs (β = −0.10; 95% CI: −0.17, −0.03) were inversely associated with testosterone (T) levels. DMP was inversely associated with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels (β = −0.03; 95% CI: −0.05, −0.01). DMP (β = −0.06; 95% CI: −0.10, −0.01) and DETP (β = −0.07; 95% CI: −0.13, −0.01) showed inverse associations with the testosterone/estradiol (T/E2) ratio. Moreover, the magnitude of associations notably increased in higher quartiles of concentrations in a dose-response manner. After stratification by sex, these effects were mainly observed among female infants.

Conclusion

Our findings suggest the potential impacts of prenatal OP exposure on fetal reproductive hormones, and that sex-related differences may exist.