Maternal Urinary Triclosan Level, Gestational Diabetes Mellitus And Birth Outcomes

Introduction: Triclosan (TCS) is a broad-spectrum antimicrobial agent widely used in personal care products including toothpaste and soap, which posts potential risk to gut microbiota, and may promote insulin resistance and adiposity. TCS is also an endocrine disruptor. This study aimed to examine whether maternal urinary TCS level is associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and birth outcomes. Methods: We measured prenatal urinary TCS concentrations in 620 pregnancy women from Shanghai, China, who were studied in 2012-2013. TCS level was assayed with high performance-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS), and categorized into high, medium and low in tertiles. GDM was defined based on the statement of International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG). Results: Among the 620 women, 97.9% had urinary TCS concentrations above the limit of detection (0.1ng/ml), 10.4% were prepregnancy overweight (BMI = 25 kg/m2), and 12% had GDM. Median TCS was 2.7 ng/ml. High TCS was associated with 2.69-fold (95% CI: 1.23, 5.91) higher odds of prepregnancy overweight and 1.88-fold (95% CI: 1.04, 3.40) higher odds of GDM, with adjustment for urinary creatinine, maternal age, education, husband smoking, and parity. Among female infants, birthweight was 122.8 grams higher (95% CI: 13.9, 231.6 grams) in infants of women with high TCS (median 13.3 ng/ml) than those with low TCS (median 0.77 ng/ml), with adjustment for urinary creatinine, prepregnancy BMI categories, the presence of GDM and other potential confounders. For male infants, maternal TCS was not associated with infant birthweight. In this sample, few (1.3%) of infants were born preterm (gestational age