“During the past decade, there has been an increasing appreciation of how exposure to industrial chemicals in widespread use may increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes”
Abstract
Objective
The objective of this study is to determine if BPA exposure, as measured by maternal plasma (MP) and amniotic fluid (AF) BPA concentrations is associated with an increased risk of spontaneous preterm birth (PTB) and preterm premature rupture of membranes (pPROM).
High bisphenol A (BPA) concentration in the maternal, but not fetal, compartment increases the risk of spontaneous preterm delivery, The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine, DOI:10.3109/14767058.2016.1139570, March 23, 2016.
Methods
In this nested case–control study, MP samples from women in term labor (n = 30), preterm labor that ended with preterm delivery (n = 25), or who had pPROM (n = 30) and amniotic fluid samples from term labor (n= 45), preterm labor (n = 60), and pPROM (n = 35) were assayed for BPA by enzyme immunoassay.
Results
BPA was detectible in 100% of MP and AF samples. Women with MP BPA concentrations in the fourth quartile were at increased risk of PTB (cOR = 4.12, 95% CI = 1.32–12.87; aOR = 4.78, 95% CI = 1.14–20) but not pPROM. High (fourth quartile) AF BPA values also tended to increase the risk of pPROM (cOR = 2.47, 95% CI = 0.96–6.37) but results were not statistically significant.
Conclusions
Increased BPA concentration is associated with an increased risk for PTB or pPROM depending on the maternal–fetal compartment(s) affected. High MP plasma BPA concentrations are associated with PTB with intact membranes but high AF BPA concentrations may weakly be associated with pPROM.