Neuropsychological Measures of Attention and Impulse Control among 8-Year-Old Children Exposed Prenatally to Organochlorines

• Published in: Environmental health perspectives 2012-06, Vol.120 (6), p.904-909
• Main Authors: Sagiv, Sharon K., Thurston, Sally W., Bellinger, David C., Altshul, Larisa M., Korrick, Susan A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attention; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - chemically induced; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - epidemiology; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biological and medical sciences; Chemical hazards; Child; Childbirth; Children; Children's Health; Chromatography, Gas; Cohort Studies; Congeners; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - blood; Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene - toxicity; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - chemically induced; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders - epidemiology; Distractibility; Environment. Living conditions; Environmental health; Female; Fetal Blood - chemistry; Health aspects; Humans; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated - toxicity; Impulse; Linear Models; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Massachusetts - epidemiology; Maternal age; Medical sciences; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuropsychology; Organochlorine compounds; Pesticides, fertilizers and other agrochemicals toxicology; Physiological aspects; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - blood; Polychlorinated Biphenyls - toxicity; Pregnancy; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Toxicology; Wechsler Scales
• ISSN: 0091-6765; 1552-9924
• DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1104372

Background: We previously reported associations between organochlorines and behaviors related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder among boys and girls at 8 years of age using a teacher's rating scale for a birth cohort in New Bedford, Massachusetts (USA). Objectives: Our goal was to corroborate these findings using neuropsychological measures of inattentive and impulsive behaviors. Methods: We investigated the association between cord serum polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) and attention and impulse control using a Continuous Performance Test (CPT) and components of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 3rd edition (WISC-III). Participants came from a prospective cohort of children born during 1993–1998 to mothers residing near a PCB-contaminated harbor in New Bedford. Median (range) cord serum levels for the sum of four prevalent PCBs [congeners 118, 138, 153, and 180 (ΣPCB₄)] and p,p'-DDE were 0.19 (0.01–2.59) and 0.31 (0–14.93) ng/g serum, respectively. Results: We detected associations between PCBs and neuropsychological deficits for 578 and 584 children with CPT and WISC-III measures, respectively, but only among boys. For example, boys with higher exposure to ΣPCB₄ had a higher rate of CPT errors of omission [rate ratio for the exposure interquartile range (IQR) = 1.12; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.98, 1.27] and slower WISC-III Processing Speed (change in score for the IQR = –2.0; 95% CI: –3.5, –0.4). Weaker associations were found for p,p'-DDE. For girls, associations were in the opposite direction for the CPT and null for the WISC-III. Conclusions: These results support an association between organochlorines (mainly PCBs) and neuropsychological measures of attention among boys only. Sex-specific effects should be considered in studies of organochlorines and neurodevelopment.