In Utero and Childhood Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Exposures and Neurodevelopment in the CHAMACOS Study

Abstract

background: California children’s exposures to polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) are among the highest worldwide. PBDEs are known endocrine disruptors and neurotoxicants in animals.Objective: Here we investigate the relation of in utero and child PBDE exposure to neurobehavioral development among participants in CHAMACOS (Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas), a California birth cohort.Methods: We measured PBDEs in maternal prenatal and child serum samples and examined the association of PBDE concentrations with children’s attention, motor functioning, and cognition at 5 (n = 310) and 7 years of age (n = 323).Results: Maternal prenatal PBDE concentrations were associated with impaired attention as measured by a continuous performance task at 5 years and maternal report at 5 and 7 years of age, with poorer fine motor coordination—particularly in the nondominant—at both age points, and with decrements in Verbal and Full-Scale IQ at 7 years. PBDE concentrations in children 7 years of age were significantly or marginally associated with concurrent teacher reports of attention problems and decrements in Processing Speed, Perceptual Reasoning, Verbal Comprehension, and Full-Scale IQ. These associations were not altered by adjustment for birth weight, gestational age, or maternal thyroid hormone levels.Conclusions: Both prenatal and childhood PBDE exposures were associated with poorer attention, fine motor coordination, and cognition in the CHAMACOS cohort of school-age children. This study, the largest to date, contributes to growing evidence suggesting that PBDEs have adverse impacts on child neurobehavioral development.

Effects of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers on Child Cognitive, Behavioral, and Motor Development

“…Studies that did not account for other chemicals were considered to be at high risk of bias. At the same time, the main effect remained in those studies that controlled for other chemical exposures [29,30]. While we know that including additional chemical exposures with a common (but unmeasured) source may lead to the amplification of bias due to residual confounding [40], a strong causal link between co-pollutants and the outcome favors including the co-pollutant in the model.…”

Exposures, mechanisms, and impacts of endocrine-active flame retardants

“…Epidemiology studies have shown that children of mothers with higher pregnancy PBDE burdens had greater risk for IQ deficits and impaired learning behaviors later in life [22-24*]. Additionally, in a series of rodent studies Viberg et al .…”

Developmental Exposure to Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers and Neurodevelopment

“…Among the eight studies identified, three are from Europe (one from the Netherlands and two from Spain) [52,53,54], three are from the United States (New York, California, and North Carolina) [55,56,57], and two are from Asia (Taiwan) [58,59]. The studies examining the impact of prenatal PBDEs and neurodevelopment during childhood are necessarily longitudinal while those examining the impact of childhood exposure on neurodevelopmental indices are cross-sectional.…”