Associations Between Maternal Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Exposure from Seafood Consumption during pregnancy and lactation and Child Growth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Arin A Balalian; Maureen K Spill; Rachel C Thoerig; Rupal Trivedi; Sanjoy Saha; Margaret J Foster; Amanda J MacFarlane

doi:10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100350

Associations Between Maternal Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Exposure from Seafood Consumption during pregnancy and lactation and Child Growth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Adv Nutr. 2024 Nov 29:100350. doi: 10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100350. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Arin A Balalian¹, Maureen K Spill², Rachel C Thoerig¹, Rupal Trivedi¹, Sanjoy Saha¹, Margaret J Foster³, Amanda J MacFarlane⁴

Affiliations

¹ Texas A&M Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Evidence Center.
² Center for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses, University Libraries, Texas A&M University; Department of Nutrition, Texas A&M University. Electronic address: maureen.spill@ag.tamu.edu.
³ Center for Systematic Reviews and Research Syntheses, University Libraries, Texas A&M University.
⁴ Texas A&M Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Evidence Center; Department of Nutrition, Texas A&M University.

PMID: 39617149
DOI: 10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100350

Abstract

Background: Beyond its nutritional benefits, seafood is a source of toxicant exposure including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). The association of PCB exposure from seafood intake during pregnancy and/or lactation (PL) and child growth outcomes is uncertain.

Objective: This systematic review investigated the evidence and quantified the association between PCB exposure during PL from seafood intake and child growth outcomes.

Methods: Embase, PubMed, and CENTRAL databases were searched from their inception for peer-reviewed English articles. Records were screened independently by two researchers at title and abstract, and then full text levels. Studies were included if they: i) were conducted in a country with high Human Development Index, ii) measured maternal PCB exposure directly, iii) assessed the relationship between PCB and seafood exposures or PCB or seafood associations with a child growth outcome, iv) were randomized or non-randomized interventions, cohort, or nested case-control studies. Pooled partial correlations (r_p) were calculated using random effects models for studies with sufficient data and narratively for the remaining studies. Cochrane ROBINS-E and GRADE tools were used to assess risk of bias and certainty of evidence, respectively. Child growth outcomes included birthweight, birth length, head and chest circumference at birth, and small for gestational age (SGA).

Results: Seven studies were included. PCB exposure during PL was weakly but significantly associated with lower birthweight (r_p =-0.07; 95%CI: -0.12, -0.02; n=5), but showed no association with birth length (r_p=-0.04; 95%CI: -0.09, 0.02; n=4) and head circumference (r_p=-0.03, 95%CI: -0.09, 0.03; n=3). Studies on SGA and chest circumference yielded inconclusive results. The certainty of evidence was low or very low due to risk of bias from confounding, missing data, and exposure misclassification.

Conclusions: The evidence suggests minimal to no link between PCB exposure from seafood during PL on child growth outcomes but with low to very low certainty. Registry and registry number for systematic reviews or meta-analyses. This systematic review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023493302).

Keywords: PCB; Polychlorinated Biphenyls; birthweight; child growth; lactation; pregnancy.

Publication types

Review