Journal
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY
Volume 171, Issue 5, Pages 593-601Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwp427
Keywords
attention deficit disorder with hyperactivity; dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene; maternal exposure; polychlorinated biphenyls
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [P42 ES05947, R01 ES014864, T32 MH073122]
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Organochlorines are environmentally persistent contaminants that readily cross the placenta, posing a potential risk to the developing fetus. Evidence for neurodevelopmental effects at low levels of these compounds is growing, though few studies have focused on behavioral outcomes. The authors investigated the association between prenatal polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) and p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) levels and behaviors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), measured with the Conners' Rating Scale for Teachers (CRS-T), in a cohort of 607 children aged 7-11 years (median age, 8.2 years) born in 1993-1998 to mothers residing near a PCB-contaminated harbor in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The median umbilical cord serum level of the sum of 4 prevalent PCB congeners (118, 138, 153, and 180) was 0.19 ng/g serum (range, 0.01-4.41 ng/g serum). The authors found higher risk for ADHD-like behaviors assessed with the CRS-T at higher levels of PCBs and p,p'-DDE. For example, the authors found higher risk of atypical behavior on the Conners' ADHD Index for the highest quartile of the sum of 4 PCB congeners versus the lowest quartile (risk ratio = 1.76, 95% confidence interval: 1.06, 2.92) and a similar relation for p,p'-DDE. These results support an association between low-level prenatal organochlorine exposure and ADHD-like behaviors in childhood.
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