Abstract
Prenatal exposure to nonpersistent chemicals such as phthalates, bisphenols, and organophosphate (OP) pesticides is ubiquitous and occurs in mixtures. So far, epidemiological studies investigating neurodevelopmental consequences of these exposures have mainly been restricted to single-pollutant models. Thus, we studied the association between prenatal exposure to nonpersistent chemical mixtures and child IQ and emotional and behavioral problems. Data came from 782 mother–child pairs. Eleven phthalate, one bisphenol, and five OP pesticide urinary exposure biomarkers were measured three times during pregnancy and averaged. Nonverbal IQ, internalizing and attention problems, aggressive behavior, and autistic traits were assessed at child age 6 years. We used quantile g-computation to estimate the change in each outcome per quartile increase in all chemicals within the mixture. Higher exposure to the mixture was associated with lower nonverbal IQ (−4.0 points (95%CI = −7.0, −1.0), −5.5 points (95%CI = −10.2, −0.9), and −4.6 points (95%CI = −10.8, 1.5) for the second, third, and fourth quartile, respectively, compared to the first quartile). These results were mainly driven by the phthalate mixture. No association was observed with emotional and behavioral problems. Prenatal exposure to nonpersistent chemical mixtures was associated with lower nonverbal IQ in children. Exposure to chemical mixtures during gestation is universal and may impact neurodevelopment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 16502-16514 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Environmental Science and Technology |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 24 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 8 Dec 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This research received financial support from National Institutes of Health (R01ES022972 and R01ES029779), the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (HHSN273201500003C and ZIAES101575). The research leading to these results received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement 733206 (LifeCycle), 874583 (ATHLETE), and 824989 (EUCAN-Connect). Michiel van den Dries was supported by the Ter Meulen grant (KNAWWF/DA/2016/TMB368) and the LifeCycle fellowship (Grant agreement No. 733206). Akhgar Ghassabian is funded by the National Institutes of Health (R01ES032826 and UH3OD023305). Henning Tiemeier was supported by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) VICI grant (NWO-ZonMW: 016. VICI.170.200). Mònica Guxens is funded by a Miguel Servet fellowship (CPII18/00018) awarded by the Spanish Institute of Health Carlos III. Vincent Jaddoe received grant ERC-2014-CoG-648916 from the European Research Council. Kelly Ferguson was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. We acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and the State Research Agency through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023” Program (CEX2018–000806-S), and support from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program.
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