The association between gestational use of personal care products and neonatal urological abnormality at birth: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study

• Published in: Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.) Vol. 93; pp. 83 - 88
• Main Authors: Nishihama, Yukiko, Tatsuta, Nozomi, Iwai-Shimada, Miyuki, Nakai, Kunihiko, Arima, Takahiro, Fujiwara, Ikuma, Yaegashi, Nobuo, Takeuchi, Ayano, Nakayama, Shoji F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.04.2020
• Subjects: Adult; CAKUT; Cohort Studies; Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract; Cosmetics; Endocrine disrupting chemicals; Endocrine Disruptors; Female; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Japan - epidemiology; Male; Maternal Exposure; Maternal-Fetal Exchange; Personal care products; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Urogenital Abnormalities - epidemiology; Vesico-Ureteral Reflux - epidemiology; Japan; Personal care products; CAKUT; Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract; Endocrine disrupting chemicals
• ISSN: 0890-6238; 1873-1708
• DOI: 10.1016/j.reprotox.2020.01.005

•Data from a large birth cohort study in Japan were analyzed.•Any association between CAKUT and exposure to EDCs was explored.•Use of personal care products was used as the marker of EDCs exposure.•The rate of CAKUT was seen to be 2.5 per 1000 live births.•No association between CAKUT and use of personal care products was seen. Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) include a broad group of birth defects. Exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) is suspected to be one of the risk factors for CAKUT, and the use of personal care products (PCPs) is a source of EDC exposure. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between CAKUT and the use of PCPs in a large birth cohort study. Data from 86,899 pregnant women included in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS), an ongoing nationwide project, were analyzed. The prevalence of CAKUT in newborns was 0.25 % and almost 90 % of subjects used PCPs during mid-late pregnancy. No association was found between CAKUT and PCP use in a model adjusted for the following covariates: maternal age at delivery. The result was persistent after rigorous sensitivity analyses.