Prenatal exposure to certain pollutants linked to behavioral problems in young children
Mothers’ exposure during pregnancy to pollutants created by the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and other organic material may lead to behavioral problems in their children, according to a new study.
Researchers found that within a sample of 215 children monitored from birth, those children with high levels of a pollution exposure marker in their cord blood had more symptoms of attention problems and anxiety/depression at ages 5 and 7 than did children with lower exposure.
The study, “PAH/Aromatic DNA Adducts in Cord Blood and Behavior Scores in New York City Children,” is published in Environmental Health Perspectives online April 12, 2011 and is to be released in an upcoming print issue.
The researchers measured a biologic marker or “fingerprint” of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and other combustion-related pollutants in newborns’ cord blood. When inhaled by the mother during pregnancy, these pollutants can be transferred across the placenta and bind to the DNA of the fetus, forming “adducts” in blood and other tissues and providing a biologic measure of pollutant exposure. Mothers completed a detailed assessment of their child’s behavior.
In urban air, traffic emissions are a dominant source of the pollutants measured in the study. The authors accounted for other sources such as environmental tobacco smoke and diet in their analyses. None of the mothers in the study were smokers.
The study by researchers at the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health (CCCEH) and the Institute of Cancer Research in England is the first to examine the behavioral effects of prenatal exposure to these air pollutants in children using a biologic marker.
“The results are of potential concern since attention problems and anxiety and depression may affect subsequent academic performance as well as peer relationships and other aspects of societal functioning,” said Dr. Frederica Perera, the study’s lead author and Center Director. “Fortunately, it is possible to reduce these air pollutants through currently available pollution controls, energy efficiency, and alternative energy sources.”
PAH/Aromatic DNA Adducts in Cord Blood and Behavior Scores in New York City Children
Frederica P. Perera, Shuang Wang, Julia Vishnevetsky, Bingzhi Zhang, Kathleen J. Cole, Deliang Tang, Virginia Rauh, David H. Phillips
Abstract
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 (CCCEH).
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 prior to age 8 (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 (DSM) oriented Anxiety Problems at the 4.8 years.
Conclusions:
These results suggest that PAH exposure, measured by DNA adducts, may adversely affect child behavior, potentially affecting school performance.
Citation: Perera FP, Wang S, Vishnevetsky J, Zhang B, Cole KJ, Tang D, et al. 2011. PAH/Aromatic DNA Adducts in Cord Blood and Behavior Scores in New York City Children. Environ Health Perspect :-. doi:10.1289/ehp.1002705
Received: 09 July 2010; Accepted: 04 April 2011; Online: 12 April 2011
By Stephanie Berger, Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, in EcoDebate, 13/04/2011
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