SAT-241 Impact Of Environmental Chemicals On Gestational Glycemia In A Diverse Cohort In North Carolina

Disclosure: N. Namasingh: None. A. Alexopoulos: None. J. Hurst: None. M.J. Crowley: None. H. Stapleton: None. R. Hoehn: None. E. Boxer: None. K. Hoffman: None. Introduction: Substantial evidence suggests environmental chemical exposures contribute to diabetes and obesity, but mechanisms remain unclear. While a growing body of literature links exposures during gestation to short- and long-term offspring outcomes, less is known about their consequences for maternal health, including gestational diabetes mellitus. The dramatic metabolic changes of pregnancy make it a time of significant influence on future metabolic risk. Thus, better understanding of how environmental chemicals affect peripartum metabolic parameters is essential to assess their impact on a woman’s lifetime metabolic disease risk.Methods: We leveraged the HOPE 1000 cohort, a multi-racial pregnancy study in North Carolina. The cohort includes longitudinal questionnaire data, biospecimens, and prenatal records. Participants wore a silicone wristband for 5 days each trimester. Using validated methods, we measured 133 environmental chemicals, including phthalates, flame retardants, combustion byproducts, and pesticides. We evaluated serum glucose levels from a second-trimester 50-g OGTT (oral glucose tolerance test) and assessed associations between frequently detected compounds (>75% of samples) and both continuous and dichotomized OGTT results. Results: Exposure data are currently available for 63 participants. The cohort is racially diverse (19% Black, 64% White, 17% other), socioeconomically varied (29% income <$90K, 60% >$90K), and well educated (5% high school or less, 47% some college, 40% postgraduate). Thirty-four compounds were detected in >75% of wristbands, with phthalates and organophosphate flame retardants being the most abundant. Preliminary analyses suggest some exposures are associated with higher OGTT values (e.g., TCPP (flame retardant), p<0.05), while others were linked to lower OGTT values (e.g., N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (pesticide), p<0.05). In categorical analysis, TCPP (flame retardant) was higher among participants with abnormal OGTT (142 vs 230 ng/g; p<0.05), while Lillial (synthetic fragrance) was higher in participants with normal tests (874 vs 258 ng/g; p<0.05). After adjusting for age, race, and education, associations were not statistically significant.Conclusions: In this interim analysis, no statistically significant associations were observed after adjusting for covariates. Limitations of the current analysis include a small sample, potentially limiting power to detect meaningful associations; however, we will analyze the full dataset once complete. Few studies have explored prenatal environmental exposure and glucose regulation, but evidence suggests possible links. Further research is urgently needed to clarify the role of environmental chemicals in maternal metabolic health. Presentation: Saturday, July 12, 2025