Maternal Personal Exposure to Airborne Benzene and Intrauterine Growth

BackgroundStudies relying on outdoor pollutants measures have reported associations between air pollutants and birth weight.ObjectiveOur aim was to assess the relation between maternal personal exposure to airborne benzene during pregnancy and fetal growth.MethodsWe recruited pregnant women in two French maternity hospitals in 2005–2006 as part of the EDEN mother–child cohort. A subsample of 271 nonsmoking women carried a diffusive air sampler for a week during the 27th gestational week, allowing assessment of benzene exposure. We estimated head circumference of the offspring by ultrasound measurements during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and at birth.ResultsMedian benzene exposure was 1.8 μg/m3 (5th, 95th percentiles, 0.5, 7.5 μg/m3). Log-transformed benzene exposure was associated with a gestational age–adjusted decrease of 68 g in mean birth weight [95% confidence interval (CI), −135 to −1 g] and of 1.9 mm in mean head circumference at birth (95% CI, −3.8 to 0.0 mm). It was associated wi...