Prenatal exposure to acrylamide, fetal growth and newborn size: A biomarker-based cohort study from Denmark

BACKGROUND: Acrylamide (AA) from diet in pregnancy has been associated with reduced birth weight (BW), but the impact on fetal size is unknown.

OBJECTIVES: To assess prenatal exposure to AA and associations with fetal size and size at birth.

METHODS: Prenatal exposure to AA was measured using a high-throughput method evaluating hemoglobin adducts from AA (HbAA) and glycidamide (HbGA) in blood from pregnant women participating in the Danish Fetal Origins 1988-89 cohort (N = 991). Associations between HbAA and clinical records of fetal growth restriction (clinician-based FGR), biparietal diameter (BPD) at 16 gestational weeks, and small-for-gestational-age (SGA), BW, birth head circumference (BHC) and birth length (BL) were evaluated in the full population and after stratification by maternal smoking during pregnancy in multivariable models.

RESULTS: Maternal HbAA median (5th-95th percentile) was 92 (45-264) pmol/g Hb and active smoking was common (42 %). Higher levels of HbAA were associated with non-significant smaller BPD. Compared to the lowest quartile, the highest quartile of HbAA was associated with a higher odds ratio of 4.00; 95 % confidence interval (CI; 1.23, 16.00) for clinician-based FGR and of 4.03 (95 %CI 1.46, 13.16) for SGA and a mean reduction in BW of 292 g (95 %CI -423, -161). Each 10-pmol/g Hb increase in HbAA was associated with a smaller offspring size at birth: 11 g (95 %CI -18, -5) for BW, -0.05 cm (-0.09, -0.01) for BHC, and -0.03 cm (-0.07, -0.01) for BL. These associations were evident after adjustment for smoking, but not in the smaller subsets of nonsmokers (n = 366) or subjects with HbGA measurement (n = 280).

CONCLUSION: This biomarker-based cohort study provides new evidence of an increase in the risk of clinician-based FGR, a critical indicator of long-term health, following prenatal exposure to AA. Furthermore, our findings add to the existing evidence that prenatal exposure to AA are associated with reduced newborn size at birth and call for more research on the effects of exposure to AA early in fetal growth and development.