RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between maternal occupational exposures to nanoscale particles (NPs) during pregnancy and small for gestational age (SGA). METHODS: This study included 11,224 mothers and singleton birth pairs from the French Longitudinal Study of Children (ELFE cohort), which included infants born after 33â¯weeks of gestation or more in continental France in 2011. Mothers who did not work during pregnancy were excluded from the analyses. Maternal occupational exposures to NPs was estimated using a job-exposure matrix for the probability (>50%: occupationally exposed group, nâ¯=â¯569; 0%: occupationally non-exposed group, nâ¯=â¯9113; between these two thresholds: uncertain group, nâ¯=â¯1542) and frequency of exposure. Associations were estimated from multivariate logistic regression models for occupationally exposed vs occupationally unexposed groups in a first analysis, and with the frequency-weighted duration of work for the occupationally exposed group only in a second analysis. RESULTS: Among working mothers, 5.1% were occupationally exposed to NPs. Maternal occupational exposures to NPs was associated with SGA (ORaâ¯=â¯1.63, 95% CI: 1.22, 2.18). The frequency-weighted duration of work for the occupationally exposed group (nâ¯=â¯569) was not associated with SGA (ORaâ¯=â¯1.02, 95% CI: 0.97, 1.08) in adjusted analyses. CONCLUSIONS: These results, showing a significant association between occupational exposures to NPs and SGA, should encourage further studies to examine the adverse effect of NPs exposure on fetal development.