Neurobehavioural and cognitive effects of prenatal exposure to organochlorine compounds in three year old children.

ABSTRACT:

Background

We report data of a Belgian observational prospective cohort study regarding cognitive and behavioural development until the age of 36?months in relation to internal exposure to organochlorine pollutants [sum of polychlorinated biphenyls (sum PCB), dioxin-like activity, PCB118, PCB170, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE)] measured in cord blood.

Methods

Participants were recruited as part of an Flemish Environmental Health Survey (2002-2006). Two hundred and six mother-child pairs were recruited. Hundred twenty five toddlers [Reynell Taal Ontwikkelings Schalen (language development, RTOS), Snijders-Oomen Niet-verbale intelligentietest (non-verbal intelligence, SON), Bayley Scales, milestones, Infant Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ), gender specific play behaviour, Neurobehavioral Evaluation System (NES)-attentional task] and their mothers [Home Observation Measurement of the Environment (HOME), Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence (WASI), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), general questionnaires] were tested. Statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS program. Much attention was paid to confounding factors.

Results

In the first years of development, higher organochlorine pollutants were associated with less active children (delayed crawling: sum PCB*HCB (p?ConclusionOur data confirm the observations that neurobehavioral development of young children is adversely influenced by environmental concentrations of PCBs, especially in boys. In this context, observation of play behaviour seems to be a reliable, easy to perform and sensitive test to detect neurotoxic effects of chemicals like PCB's and dioxin-like compounds in very young children. On the basis of our results, we hypothesize that an underarrousal pattern may play a role in the spectrum of effects measured in toddlers prenatally exposed to PCBs and dioxin-like compounds.

SUBMITTER: Vermeir G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7908674 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature