Maternal and paternal preconception exposure to phenols and preterm birth Mustieles Miralles, Vicente Preterm birth Bisphenol Paraben Benzophenone Preconception Background: Phenol exposure during pregnancy has been associated with preterm birth, but the potential effect of preconception exposure in either parent is unknown. There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that the preconception period is a critical window of vulnerability for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Objective: We examined whether maternal and paternal preconception urinary concentrations of select phenols were associated with the risk of preterm birth among couples attending fertility care. Results: The mean (SD) gestational age among singletons was 39.3 (1.7) weeks with 8% born preterm. A natural log-unit increase in maternal preconception BPA (RR 1.94; 95% CI: 1.20, 3.14) and BPS (RR 2.42; 95% CI: 1.01, 5.77) concentration was associated with an increased risk of preterm birth. These associations remained after further adjustment for maternal prenatal and paternal preconception biomarker concentrations. Paternal preconception ΣParabens concentrations showed a possible elevated risk of preterm birth (RR 1.36; 95% CI: 0.94, 1.96). No consistent pattern of association was observed for benzophenone-3 or triclosan biomarkers in either parent. Discussion: Maternal preconception urinary BPA and BPS concentrations, as well as paternal preconception urinary parabens concentrations were prospectively associated with a higher risk of preterm birth. Subfertile couples’ exposure to select phenols during the preconception period may be an unrecognized risk factor for adverse pregnancy outcomes. 2020-04-29T11:45:34Z 2020-04-29T11:45:34Z 2020-02-29 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Mustieles, V., Zhang, Y., Yland, J., Braun, J. M., Williams, P. L., Wylie, B. J., ... & Hauser, R. (2020). Maternal and paternal preconception exposure to phenols and preterm birth. Environment International, 137, 105523. http://hdl.handle.net/10481/61696 10.1016/j.envint.2020.105523 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 3.0 España Elsevier Inc.