Air Pollution Exposure During Fetal Life, Brain Morphology, and Cognitive Function in School-Age Children

Guxens, Mònica; Lubczyńska, Małgorzata J.; Muetzel, Ryan L.; Dalmau-Bueno, Albert; Jaddoe, Vincent W. V.; Hoek, Gerard; Lugt, Aad van der; Verhulst, Frank C.; White, Tonya; Brunekreef, Bert; Tiemeier, Henning; Marroun, Hanan El

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.01.016

Cited by 193 publications

(116 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

110

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Another recent study with a large sample of schoolchildren with brain MRI showed a relationship between the residential exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and a decrease in pre-frontal white matter in areas related with attention. 32 Consistent with these findings, recent retrospective studies in children reported that specific time windows during gestation are crucial for several cognitive functions 33 and autism. 34 Hence, the windows of sensitivity to air pollution exposure in utero in human beings are yet to be defined, for each specific environment, profile of pollutants, and socio-economic and ethnic groups.…”

Section: Vulnerable?supporting

confidence: 56%

“…The same study showed no changes in brain structure related to air pollution exposure, possibly because of the window of exposure (in utero vs childhood exposure) in that study. Another recent study with a large sample of schoolchildren with brain MRI showed a relationship between the residential exposure to air pollution during pregnancy and a decrease in pre‐frontal white matter in areas related with attention . Consistent with these findings, recent retrospective studies in children reported that specific time windows during gestation are crucial for several cognitive functions and autism .…”

Section: Are Children More Vulnerable?mentioning

confidence: 55%

“…During the past years, considerable advances have been made with regard to neuroimaging techniques such ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate pre‐natal and early post‐natal brain development and the myelinisation process in particular . Advanced transabdominal and transvaginal neurosonography allows us to measure the depth and degree of maturation of specific cortical fissures and sulci, and the development of specific structures such as the corpus callosum and lateral ventricles with notable precision.…”

Section: Is Neuroimaging a Novel Tool In Air Pollution Epidemiology?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The limited available evidence suggests that exposure to particulate pollution from week 20 onwards could affect brain development. 33 The few published studies using neuroimaging suggest that pre-natal air pollution exposure affects myelinisation (ie smaller white matter volume, 29 white matter lesions 30 and decrease o pre-frontal cortical thickness 32 ). These results are consistent with the observed effects in mice exposed in utero 14,25 and in elderly human beings, [35][36][37] although cumulative exposure and the mechanisms of action could be different in later life.…”

Section: Vulnerable?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Pre‐natal brain development as a target for urban air pollution

Sunyer

Dadvand

2019

Basic Clin Pharma Tox

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Air pollution is the main urban‐related environmental hazard and one of the major contributors to the global burden of disease based on its cardiovascular‐respiratory impacts. In children, exposure to urban air pollution is associated, among others, with decelerated neurodevelopment early in life and increased risk of neurodevelopmental problems such as attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, academic failure and the start of Alzheimer's pathogenesis. However, the evidence of the effects of air pollution on brain development is still inadequate, mainly due to the limitations in (a) characterizing brain development (most studies were based on subjective tools such as questionnaires or neuropsychological tests) and (b) air pollution exposure (most studies only used residential levels based on geographical modelling and also overlooking the variation in the mixture of air pollutants as well as the composition and hence toxicity of particulate pollutants in different settings), (c) the lack of studies during the most vulnerable stages of brain development (foetal and early life (first two years post‐natally)) and (d) the lack of structural and functional imaging data underlying these effects. In mice, in utero exposure to fine particles was linked to structural brain changes and there is a need to establish the generalizability of these findings in human beings. Though scarce, current evidence in children supports the importance of the pre‐natal period as a susceptible window of exposure. Two studies in schoolchildren found that pre‐natal air pollution exposure might damage brain structure while exposure during childhood was not linked to any structural alteration. Another study showed that children with higher traffic‐related air pollution at school had lower functional integration in key brain networks, but no changes in brain structure, possibly partly because of the time window of air pollution exposure (in utero versus childhood exposure). A key development is to discover the windows of greatest sensitivity of structural brain changes to air pollution exposure by incorporating the recent advances in non‐invasive imaging to characterize natal and post‐natal brain development and exploring whether and to what extend placental dysfunction could mediate such an association. Studying pre‐natal life is important because effects at this time are of a potentially irreversible nature and because the largest preventive opportunities occur during these periods.

show abstract

Section: Vulnerable?supporting

confidence: 56%

Section: Are Children More Vulnerable?mentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Is Neuroimaging a Novel Tool In Air Pollution Epidemiology?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vulnerable?mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Pre‐natal brain development as a target for urban air pollution

Sunyer

Dadvand

2019

Basic Clin Pharma Tox

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In utero exposure to numerous neurotoxicants results in lasting brain deficits in children, as also first shown for lead, methylmercury and ethanol. Pre‐natal exposure to air pollutants can result in white matter impairment, as seen in follow‐up studies of children, and school performance improved more slowly in children exposed to elevated levels of air pollution . Other organ systems, such as the cardiovascular, the respiratory, the reproductive and the immune systems, are also known to be affected by early‐life exposures.…”

Section: Vulnerable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Timescales of developmental toxicity impacting on research and needs for intervention

Grandjean

Abdennebi-Najar

Barouki

et al. 2018

Basic Clin Pharma Tox

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Much progress has happened in understanding developmental vulnerability to preventable environmental hazards. Along with the improved insight, the perspective has widened, and developmental toxicity now involves latent effects that can result in delayed adverse effects in adults or at old age and additional effects that can be transgenerationally transferred to future generations. Although epidemiology and toxicology to an increasing degree are exploring the adverse effects from developmental exposures in human beings, the improved documentation has resulted in little progress in protection, and few environmental chemicals are currently regulated to protect against developmental toxicity, whether it be neurotoxicity, endocrine disruption or other adverse outcome. The desire to obtain a high degree of certainty and verification of the evidence used for decision-making must be weighed against the costs and necessary duration of research, as well as the long-term costs to human health because of delayed protection of vulnerable early-life stages of human development and, possibly, future generations. Although two-generation toxicology tests may be useful for initial test purposes, other rapidly emerging tools need to be seriously considered from computational chemistry and metabolomics to CLARITY-BPA-type designs, big data and population record linkage approaches that will allow efficient generation of new insight; epigenetic mechanisms may necessitate a set of additional regulatory tests to reveal such effects. As reflected by the Prenatal Programming and Toxicity (PPTOX) VI conference, the current scientific understanding and the timescales involved require an intensified approach to protect against preventable adverse health effects that can harm the next generation and generations to come. While further research is needed, the main emphasis should be on research translation and timely public health intervention to avoid serious, irreversible and perhaps transgenerational harm.

show abstract

Association of Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution With Thyroid Function During Pregnancy

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Key PointsQuestionIs exposure to ambient air pollution in the first trimester associated with thyroid function throughout pregnancy?FindingsAmong 9931 pregnant women in 4 European cohorts and 1 US cohort, an increase of 5 μg/m3 in exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 μm or less was associated with 20% higher odds of hypothyroxinemia.MeaningThe findings of this study raise the possibility that exposure to particulate matter might disrupt thyroid function in pregnant women.

show abstract

Air Pollution Exposure During Fetal Life, Brain Morphology, and Cognitive Function in School-Age Children

Cited by 193 publications

References 44 publications

Pre‐natal brain development as a target for urban air pollution

Pre‐natal brain development as a target for urban air pollution

Timescales of developmental toxicity impacting on research and needs for intervention

Association of Exposure to Ambient Air Pollution With Thyroid Function During Pregnancy

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About