Dietary Acrylamide Intake during Pregnancy and Fetal Growth—Results from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa)

Talita Duarte-Salles,^1* Hans von Stedingk,^2* Berit Granum,¹ Kristine B. Gützkow,¹ Per Rydberg,² Margareta Törnqvist,² Michelle A. Mendez,³ Gunnar Brunborg,¹ Anne Lise Brantsæter,¹ Helle Margrete Meltzer,¹ Jan Alexander,⁴ and Margaretha Haugen¹

¹Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; ²Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, Sweden; ³Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; ⁴Office of Director-General, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway

Abstract

Background: Acrylamide has shown developmental and reproductive toxicity in animals, as well as neurotoxic effects in humans with occupational exposures. Because it is widespread in food and can pass through the human placenta, concerns have been raised about potential developmental effects of dietary exposures in humans.

Objectives: We assessed associations of prenatal exposure to dietary acrylamide with small for gestational age (SGA) and birth weight.

Methods: This study included 50,651 women in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Acrylamide exposure assessment was based on intake estimates obtained from a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), which were compared with hemoglobin (Hb) adduct measurements reflecting acrylamide exposure in a subset of samples (n = 79). Data on infant birth weight and gestational age were obtained from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Multivariable regression was used to estimate associations between prenatal acrylamide and birth outcomes.

Results: Acrylamide intake during pregnancy was negatively associated with fetal growth. When women in the highest quartile of acrylamide intake were compared with women in the lowest quartile, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) for SGA was 1.11 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.21) and the coefficient for birth weight was –25.7 g (95% CI: –35.9, –15.4). Results were similar after excluding mothers who smoked during pregnancy. Maternal acrylamide– and glycidamide–Hb adduct levels were correlated with estimated dietary acrylamide intakes (Spearman correlations = 0.24; 95% CI: 0.02, 0.44; and 0.48; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.63, respectively).

Conclusions: Lowering dietary acrylamide intake during pregnancy may improve fetal growth.

Key words: acrylamide, birth weight, diet, Hb adducts, MoBa, pregnancy, small for gestational age.

Environ Health Perspect 121:374–379 (2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205396 [Online 29 November 2012]

Address correspondence to M. Haugen, Department of Food Safety and Nutrition, Division of Environmental Medicine, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, P.O. Box 4404, Nydalen, NO-0403 Oslo, Norway. Telephone: 47 21076563. E-mail: margaretha.haugen@fhi.no

*These authors contributed equally to the work.

We are grateful to all the participating families in Norway who take part in this ongoing cohort study.

The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and Research, National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (contract NO1-75558), NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (grant 1 UO1 NS 047537-01), and the Norwegian Research Council/FUGE (grant 151918/S10). The EU Integrated Project NewGeneris (Newborns and Genotoxic Exposure Risks), 6th Framework Programme, Priority 5: Food Quality and Safety (contract FOOD-CT-2005-016320) (http://www.newgeneris.org), the Swedish Cancer and Allergy Foundation, and the Swedish Research Council Formas are gratefully acknowledged for financial support.

H.S., P.R., and M.T. are shareholders in Adduct Analys AB, which owns the patent for the applied analytical method for Hb adduct measurements. The other authors declare they have no actual or potential competing financial interests.

Received 27 May 2012; Accepted 29 November 2012; Online 29 November 2012.