ECHO PATHWAYS’ first multi-cohort study, “A combined cohort analysis of prenatal exposure to phthalate mixtures and childhood asthma” was published in Environmental International. The study investigated whether prenatal phthalates are associated with childhood wheeze and asthma using pooled data from the CANDLE and TIDES cohorts. Unique strengths of this analysis included application of novel methods accounting for exposure to phthalate mixtures, rather than examination of exposure to individual phthalates, independently. This mixtures-focused approach is more representative of the complicated mixtures of chemicals that women are exposed to in everyday life. Mixtures dominated by low molecular weight phthalates in particular were associated with higher risk of asthma. The study also examined effect modification by child sex and maternal asthma. Adverse associations between phthalates and childhood asthma were found to vary by child sex, with stronger adverse effects observed in boys.
