Abstract

As an alarming group of pollutants, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) gather much public health concern not only because of their carcinogenic or co-carcinogenic risk but also by interfering with hormone systems or by causing oxidative damage, henceforth liable to toxic actions on reproduction. Accordingly, the present study was aimed to explore the association between in-utero exposure to PAHs by evaluating their placental levels and infant birth weight among 110 healthy and nonsmoking pregnant women. Placental tissue samples were collected instantly after delivery and were analyzed for the presence of sixteen Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) listed PAHs with the help of Gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector (GC-FID). Chrysene and benzo(k)fluoranthene were the predominant PAHs detected in tissue samples. To assess the source of origin of PAHs in placenta tissue samples, the ratio of low molecular weight PAHs to high molecular weight (∑LMW/∑HMW PAHs) was calculated, showing the predominance of pyrogenic sources of PAHs possibly responsible for the exposure of the studied population. Results of regression analysis demonstrated the inverse although not significant association of naphthalene (Nap), acenaphthylene (Acy), anthracene (Anth), pyrene (Pyr), benzo(b)fluoranthene (BbF), benzo(k)Fluoranthene (BkF), benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), indeno (123 cd pyrene (IcdP), dibenzo(ah)anthracene (DahA) and benzo(ghi)Perylene (BghiP) with birth weight of neonates. Additionally, the regression model lay light upon the significant association of fluoranthene (Fla) (coefficient= −1.41 gram, p < 0.05) to the depletion trend of birth weight after adjusting for potential covariates. These findings suggest the possible role of an environmental contaminants like PAHs on impairment of fetal growth.

摘要

作为一组令人担忧的污染物，多环芳烃（PAHs）引起了公众的广泛关注，不仅因为它们具有致癌或共致癌风险，而且由于干扰激素系统或造成氧化损伤，因此容易对生殖产生毒性作用。因此，本研究旨在探讨子宫内通过评估 110 名健康和不吸烟孕妇的胎盘水平和婴儿出生体重来暴露多环芳烃。分娩后立即收集胎盘组织样本，并在配备火焰离子化检测器 (GC-FID) 的气相色谱仪的帮助下分析了 16 种环境保护署 (EPA) 列出的 PAH。Chrysene 和苯并（k）荧蒽是在组织样本中检测到的主要 PAH。为了评估胎盘组织样本中 PAHs 的来源，计算了低分子量 PAHs 与高分子量 PAHs 的比率 (∑LMW/∑HMW PAHs)，显示 PAHs 的热源占优势，可能是导致暴露于研究人群。回归分析的结果证明了萘（Nap）的逆关联，尽管不显着，p  < 0.05) 调整潜在协变量后出生体重的消耗趋势。这些发现表明多环芳烃等环境污染物可能对胎儿生长造成损害。