Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) may influence birth weight among infants in a Swedish cohort with background exposure: a cross-sectional study

Table 4 Associations between exposure to PCBs and PBDEs and birth weight among female/male infants

	Female infants				Male infants
	β^a	SE^b	p	N	β^a	SE^b	p	N
Multivariate model^c
di-ortho PCBs^d	42	99	0.7	161	200	77	0.01*	185
di-ortho PCBs^d – restricted^e	88	136	1.0	110	189	88	0.03*	144
PBDE(4)^f	32	70	0.7	161	−126	62	0.04*	185
PBDE(4)^f – restricted^e	−20	104	0.8	110	−162	73	0.03*	144
Multivariate model including gestational length^g
di-ortho PCBs^d	149	123	0.2	110	141	77	0.07	144
PBDE(4)^f	−47	93	0.6	110	−139	64	0.03*	144

^aRegression coefficient, i.e. change in birth weight per 1-unit increase in ln-transformed contaminant concentration in breast milk.
^bStandard error.
^cDi-ortho PCB and PBDE(4) were included in the same model. Other covariates included were age of the mother, pre-pregnancy BMI, weight gain during pregnancy, education, smoking and infant sex.
^dSum of PCB 138, PCB 153 and PCB 180.
^eMultivariate regression analysis restricted to individuals with data on gestational length.
^fSum of BDE-47, BDE-99, BDE-100 and BDE-153.
^gGestational length was added to the covariates in the multivariate model.
*p≤0.05.

ISSN: 1476-069X