Prenatal Polychlorinated Biphenyls Exposure And Reproductive Hormones In Adult Male Offspring: Results From The Child Health And Development Studies

Abstract

Introduction: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are ubiquitous persistent organic pollutants which act as endocrine disruptors. The effect of in utero exposure to PCBs on hormonal concentrations in md-life remains unclear. Except for three studies, previous research investigating the relationship between PCB exposure and male sex hormones has been cross-sectional. Here, we examine whether in utero PCB exposure is associated with concentrations of testosterone and follicular stimulating hormone (FSH) in adult males. Methods: We used data from the Study of the Environment and Reproduction (SER), a follow up of adult male offspring from the Child Health and Development Study. Of those men who participated, 204 (mean age 43.7 years) gave a blood sample for the measurement of total testosterone and FSH. Prenatal PCB exposure to 15 congeners was measured in maternal blood samples in the immediate postpartum period. Multivariable regression was used to determine the association between prenatal PCB exposure and concentrations of testosterone and FSH, controlling for age, race, total lipids and BMI. PCBs were grouped according to their proposed mechanism of action and according to the degree of chlorination; individual congeners were also assessed as separate exposure measures. Hormone and PCB concentrations were positively skewed and transformed using the natural log function. Results: Mean (standard deviation) concentrations of total testosterone and FSH were 386 (183) ng/dL and 5.83 (3.99) mIU/mL, respectively. We did not find any associations between exposure and FSH. In both unadjusted and adjusted analyses, maternal PCB183 was associated with increased total testosterone. For each log unit increase in maternal PCB183, log total testosterone increased by 0.15 ng/dL (95% confidence interval (-0.01, 0.31). Conclusions: These results suggest that prenatal exposure to specific PCB congeners is associated with testosterone levels in adulthood.