Gestational exposure to organochlorine compounds and metals and infant birth weight: effect modification by maternal hardships

Gestational exposure to toxic environmental chemicals and maternal social hardships are individually associated with impaired fetal growth, but it is unclear whether the effects of environmental chemical exposure on infant birth weight are modified by maternal hardships. We used data from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) Study, a pan-Canadian cohort of 1982 pregnant females enrolled between 2008 and 2011. We quantified eleven environmental chemical concentrations from two chemical classes – six organochlorine compounds (OCs) and five metals – that were detected in ≥ 70