Effects of Prenatal Exposure to Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Dioxins on Mental and Motor Development in Japanese Children at 6 Months of Age
- 1 May 2006
- journal article
- Published by Environmental Health Perspectives in Environmental Health Perspectives
- Vol. 114 (5), 773-778
- https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.8614
Abstract
Several studies have shown that prenatal and/or postnatal background-level exposure to environmental chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins, induces adverse effects on the neurodevelopment of children. However, other studies have not detected any harmful influences on neurodevelopment. Furthermore, except in western countries, no developmental tests have been carried out in relation to detailed assessment of exposure to PCBs and dioxins. In this study (the Hokkaido Study on Environment and Children’s Health), the effect of prenatal exposure to background levels of PCBs and dioxins on infant neurodevelopment in Japan/Sapporo was elucidated. The associations between the total or individual isomer level of PCBs and dioxins in 134 Japanese pregnant women’s peripheral blood and the mental or motor development of their 6-month-old infants were evaluated using the second edition of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. The mean level of total toxicity equivalency quantity (TEQ) was 18.8 (4.0–51.2) pg/g lipid in blood of 134 mothers. After adjustment for potential confounding variables, the total TEQ value was shown not to be significantly associated with mental developmental index (MDI) or psychomotor developmental index (PDI). However, the levels of one polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (PCDD) isomer, total PCDDs, and total PCDDs/polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were significantly negatively associated with MDI, and the levels of two PCDD isomers and three PCDF isomers were significantly negatively associated with the PDI. In conclusion, the background-level exposure of several isomers of dioxins during the prenatal period probably affects the motor development of 6-month-old infants more than it does their mental development.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- In Utero Exposure to Background Levels of Polychlorinated Biphenyls and Cognitive Functioning among School-age ChildrenAmerican Journal of Epidemiology, 2005
- Effects of Perinatal Exposure to PCBs on Neuropsychological Functions in the Rotterdam Cohort at 9 Years of Age.Neuropsychology, 2004
- Measurement of Dioxins in Human Blood: Improvement of Analytical Method.Industrial Health, 2003
- Cognitive Assessment for the Youngest Children: A Critical Review of TestsJournal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 2001
- Correlations among Human Plasma Levels of Dioxin-Like Compounds and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) and Implications for Epidemiologic StudiesArchives of environmental health, 2000
- Toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) for PCBs, PCDDs, PCDFs for humans and wildlife.Environmental Health Perspectives, 1998
- PCBs, DDE, and child development at 18 and 24 monthsAnnals of Epidemiology, 1991
- Effects of perinatal polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene on later developmentThe Journal of Pediatrics, 1991
- Development after exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene transplacentally and through human milkThe Journal of Pediatrics, 1988
- Neonatal effects of transplacental exposure to PCBs and DDEThe Journal of Pediatrics, 1986