Background: Experimental laboratory evidence suggests that bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, is a neurodevelopmental toxicant. However, there have been limited and inconclusive results with respect to sex-specific BPA effects on child behavior.Objective: We examined the association between prenatal BPA exposure and child behavior, adjusting for postnatal BPA exposure and hypothesizing sex-specific effects.Methods: We followed African-American and Dominican women and their children from pregnancy to child’s age 5 years, collecting spot urine samples from the mothers during pregnancy (34 weeks on average) and from children between 3 and 4 years of age to estimate BPA exposure. We assessed child behavior between 3 and 5 years of age using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and used generalized linear models to test the association between BPA exposure and child behavior, adjusting for potential confounders.Results: The analysis was conducted on 198 children (87 boys and 111 girls). Among boys, high prenatal BPA exposure (highest quartile vs. the lowest three quartiles) was associated with significantly higher CBCL scores (more problems) on Emotionally Reactive [1.62 times greater; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13, 2.32] and Aggressive Behavior syndromes (1.29 times greater; 95% CI: 1.09, 1.53). Among girls, higher exposure was associated with lower scores on all syndromes, reaching statistical significance for Anxious/Depressed (0.75 times as high; 95% CI: 0.57, 0.99) and Aggressive Behavior (0.82 times as high; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.97).Conclusion: These results suggest that prenatal exposure to BPA may affect child behavior, and differently among boys and girls.

Background: Airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are widespread urban air pollutants from fossil fuel burning and other combustion sources. We previously reported that a broad spectrum of combustion-related DNA adducts in cord blood was associated with attention problems at 6–7 years of age in the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) longitudinal cohort study.Objectives: We evaluated the relationship between behavioral problems and two different measures of prenatal exposure—both specific to PAH—in the same cohort.Methods: Children of nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women in New York City (NYC) were followed from in utero to 6–7 years. Prenatal PAH exposure was estimated by personal air monitoring of the mothers during pregnancy as well as by the measurement of DNA adducts specific to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a representative PAH, in maternal and cord blood. At 6–7 years of age, child behavior was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (n = 253). Generalized linear models were used to test the association between prenatal PAH exposure and behavioral outcomes.Results: In multivariate analyses, high prenatal PAH exposure, whether characterized by personal air monitoring (greater than the median of 2.27 ng/m3) or maternal and cord adducts (detectable or higher), was positively associated with symptoms of Anxious/Depressed and Attention Problems (p ≤ 0.05).Conclusion: These results provide additional evidence that environmental levels of PAH encountered in NYC air can adversely affect child behavior.

Background: Airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are widespread urban pollutants that can bind to DNA to form PAH–DNA adducts. Prenatal PAH exposure measured by personal monitoring has been linked to cognitive deficits in childhood in a prospective study conducted by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health.Objectives: We measured PAH–DNA and other bulky aromatic adducts in umbilical cord white blood cells using the 32P-postlabeling assay to determine the association between this molecular dosimeter and behavioral/attention problems in childhood.Methods: Children born to nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women residing in New York City (NYC) were followed from in utero to 7–8 years of age. At two time points before 8 years of age (mean ages, 4.8 years and 7 years), child behavior was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). To estimate and test the association between adducts and behavioral outcomes, both CBCL continuous raw scores and dichotomized T-scores were analyzed.Results: Higher cord adducts were associated with higher symptom scores of Anxious/Depressed at 4.8 years and Attention Problems at 4.8 and 7 years, and with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition–oriented Anxiety Problems at 4.8 years.Conclusions: These results suggest that PAH exposure, measured by DNA adducts, may adversely affect child behavior, potentially affecting school performance.