Work

Prenatal exposure to chemical mixtures and inhibition among adolescents in the New Bedford Cohort

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: TPS 732: Neurological effects in adults, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 27, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background/Aim: Few studies have assessed whether prenatal exposure to chemical mixtures has cognitive impacts in adolescence. Methods: The New Bedford Cohort (NBC) is a birth cohort of residents near the New Bedford Harbor Superfund site in Massachusetts. Among 528 adolescents from the NBC, we investigated the association of biomarkers of prenatal exposure to organochlorines (OCs: DDE, HCB, PCBs) and metals (Pb, Mn, MeHg, As) with executive function, a cognitive skill that undergoes substantial development in adolescence. This analysis focused on inhibition, assessed with the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System Design Fluency (non-verbal task) and Color-Word Interference (verbal task) subtests with scores standardized to a mean of 10, SD of 3. Confounder-adjusted associations were examined for individual exposures using generalized additive models (GAMs) and for exposure mixtures using Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression (BKMR). Results: NBC adolescents are diverse with 31% non-white and 32% in a low-income household at birth. Their biomarker levels of prenatal OC (cord serum) and metal (cord blood or maternal peripartum hair and toenail) levels were generally similar to other birth cohorts. In GAM models of all exposure biomarkers, there were no significant adverse associations with Design Fluency but increasing cord serum PCBs were associated with poorer Color-Word scores (smooth p=0.047) as were linear terms for Mn (β per IQR increase in Mn=-0.30, 95% CI =-0.72, 0.12) and As (β per IQR increase in As=-0.05, 95% CI =-0.23, 0.13), although not statistically significantly. Similarly, in BKMR models of the exposure mixture, there were no significant adverse associations with Design Fluency but suggestive adverse associations with Color-Word scores. Conclusion: We observed modest adverse associations of individual and joint exposures to metals and OCs with inhibition. Future work will assess associations of prenatal chemical mixtures with other executive functions, with consideration of potential differential sensitivity to verbal versus non-verbal tasks.

Source: Environmental Epidemiology

DOI: 10.1097/01.ee9.0000607724.07951.39

Authors: Iokheles A, Bellinger D, Coull B, Weisskopf M, Korrick S

Institutions: Harvard University, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital

Language: English

Topic: Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact

Subfield: Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,200