Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and their hydroxylated metabolites is associated with neurological functioning in 3-month-old infants

• Published in: Toxicological sciences 2014-12, Vol.142 (2), p.455-462
• Main Authors: Berghuis, Sietske A, Soechitram, Shalini D, Sauer, Pieter J J, Bos, Arend F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cohort Studies; Environmental Pollutants - blood; Environmental Pollutants - metabolism; Environmental Pollutants - toxicity; Female; Humans; Hydroxylation; Infant; Logistic Models; Male; Multivariate Analysis; Nervous System - drug effects; Nervous System - embryology; Nervous System Physiological Phenomena - drug effects; Neurologic Examination; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - blood; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - metabolism; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - toxicity; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - chemically induced; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - physiopathology; Prospective Studies; Sex Characteristics
• ISSN: 1096-6080; 1096-0929
• DOI: 10.1093/toxsci/kfu196

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are environmental chemicals which are potentially toxic to the developing brain. Their hydroxylated metabolites (OH-PCBs) are suggested to be even more toxic. Knowledge about the health effects of prenatal OH-PCB exposure is limited. We aimed to determine whether prenatal background exposure to PCBs and OH-PCBs is associated with neurological functioning in 3-month-old boys and girls. In a Dutch observational cohort study, we measured 10 PCBs and 6 OH-PCBs in maternal blood samples of 98 pregnant women. We assessed their infants neurologically with Touwen examination at 3 months and calculated an Optimality Score (OS, range 0-53, low-high optimality). We calculated correlation coefficients between compound levels and OS. Subsequently, we tested whether levels were associated with specific clusters and whether levels differed between infants with "normal" (dysfunction on ≤1 cluster) and "non-optimal" development (dysfunction on ≥2 clusters). The mean OS was 48 (range 44-52). Higher exposure to PCB-146 correlated significantly with higher OS (r = 0.209; p = 0.039). In boys, higher exposure to 4-OH-PCB-107 correlated with lower OS (r = -0.305; p = 0.030). Higher exposure to 9 PCBs and the sum of all PCBs was associated with better visuomotor and/or better sensorimotor function. Infants classified as "non-optimal" (n = 36) had significantly lower prenatal exposure to 6 PCBs and the sum of all PCBs (p