Windows of vulnerability to early life phthalate exposure and adiposity at 8 years of age

Background: Early life phthalate exposure may influence adiposity, but prior studies have not evaluated whether periods of enhanced susceptibility to exposure exist. We examined associations between repeated measures of prenatal and child phthalate exposure with child adiposity to determine if there are periods of increased susceptibility. Methods: In 221 mother-child pairs from Cincinnati, OH, we measured nine urinary phthalate metabolites up to two times prenatally and six times from 1-8 years of age. We measured child BMI, waist circumference, and body fat percent at 8 years. To identify periods of susceptibility, we tested differences in exposure-outcome associations across visits and estimated covariate-adjusted associations at each visit with a multiple informants model using repeated exposure measures as informants. Results: Associations between di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) metabolites and monoethyl phthalate (MEP) and adiposity depended on the timing of exposure (P<0.05). DEHP and MEP at age ...