There is significant evidence of globally ubiquitous prenatal exposures to bisphenol A (BPA). Childhood obesity as an epidemic has been a global concern for over a decade. Experimental models and ...epidemiological evidence suggest that BPA may act as an obesogen during adipogenesis. Results from stem cell models and birth cohort studies support the developmental origins of health and disease theory. While literature reviews have presented a variety of potential mechanisms of BPA action during adipogenesis, there remains no consensus. This review is the first to explore the proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) mechanism in detail. This review will also examine the obesogenic effect of prenatal exposure to BPA during critical windows of vulnerability. Although vast experimental literature exists, there is limited epidemiological evidence to support the hypothesis for the obesogenic effect of BPA. The primary goal of this review is to provide researchers with a roadmap of existing research and suggestions for future directions for analyzing the relationship between prenatal BPA exposures and childhood obesity.
•Epidemiological findings support global exposures to BPA.•Experimental evidence confirms that BPA plays a role in PPARG expression during adipogenesis.•Epidemiological exposure results are mixed for associations between prenatal BPA exposure and childhood adiposity.•Childhood anthropometric methodologies are highly variable.•More research is needed to standardize global methods for the role of BPA in PPARG gene expression during adipogenesis.
Maternal exposure to phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) during pregnancy can result in many adverse offspring health outcomes. Exposure to phthalates and BPA can vary depending on consumption of ...certain foods, some of which may vary by race/ethnicity. This study relates urine phthalate and BPA concentrations to sociodemographic and diet data. Concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) and 11 phthalate metabolites were measured from spot urine at the third trimester visit of a sample of 485 pregnant women from the National Children's Study Vanguard Study Pilot data from seven U.S. cities. At the same time, food frequency questionnaires (FFQ) using the Diet*Calc software were obtained from 313 (65%) participants to assess dietary behavior. Overall, phthalate metabolites were highest among Hispanic women, particularly mBP, miBP, and mECPP, and these disparities were not explained by diet. Participants who did not attend college had higher concentrations of mBP, mBzP, mEP, and miBP, and lower mCOP. These disparities were also not explained by diet. The causes for these disparities should be further studied to reduce potential negative health outcomes associated with phthalate exposure for children of Hispanic or non-college educated women.
•Women who were Hispanic or did not go to college had higher urinary phthalate levels.•Urinary concentrations of mBP, miBP, and mECPP were higher in Hispanic women.•Concentrations of mBP, miBP, mBzP, mEP were lower in those who attended college.•Diet did not explain race/ethnic and education-related disparities in phthalates.•Organic foods were not protective against exposure to BPA and phthalates.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a ubiquitous endocrine disrupting compound. Several experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that gestational BPA exposure can lead to neurodevelopmental and behavioral ...problems in early-life, but results have been inconsistent. We previously reported that prenatal BPA exposure may affect child behavior and differently among boys and girls at ages 3–5 years.
We investigated the association of prenatal and early childhood BPA exposure with behavioral outcomes in 7–9 year old minority children and hypothesized that we would observe the same sex-specific pattern observed at earlier ages.
African-American and Dominican women enrolled in an inner-city prospective cohort study and their children were followed from mother’s pregnancy through children’s age 7–9 years. Women during the third trimester of pregnancy and children at ages 3 and 5 years provided spot urine samples. BPA exposure was categorized by tertiles of BPA urinary concentrations. The Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) was administered at ages 7 and 9 to assess multiple child behavior domains. Associations between behavior and prenatal (maternal) BPA concentrations and behavior and postnatal (child) BPA concentration were assessed via Poisson regression in models stratified by sex. These models accounted for potential confounders including prenatal or postnatal urinary BPA concentrations, child age at CBCL assessment, ethnicity, gestational age, maternal intelligence, maternal education and demoralization, quality of child’s home environment, prenatal environmental tobacco smoke exposure, and prenatal mono-n-butyl phthalate concentration.
The direction of the associations differed between boys and girls. Among boys (n=115), high prenatal BPA concentration (upper tertile vs. lower two tertiles) was associated with increased internalizing (β=0.41, p<0.0001) and externalizing composite scores (β=0.40, p<0.0001) and with their corresponding individual syndrome scales. There was a general decrease in scores among girls that was significant for the internalizing composite score (β=−0.17, p=0.04) (n=135). After accounting for possible selection bias, the results remained consistent for boys. Conversely, high postnatal BPA concentration was associated with increased behaviors on both the internalizing composite (β=0.30, p=0.0002) and externalizing composite scores (β=0.33, p<0.0001) and individual subscores in girls but fewer symptoms in boys. These results remained significant in girls after accounting for selection bias.
These results suggest BPA exposure may affect childhood behavioral outcomes in a sex-specific manner and differently depending on timing of exposure.
•We assessed sex-specific associations between bisphenol A (BPA) and child behavior.•We measured BPA in maternal urine during pregnancy and in child urine at ages 3–5.•We administered the CBCL at ages 7 and 9 years to assess behavioral symptoms.•Boys with high prenatal BPA had increased internalizing and externalizing problems.•Associations of postnatal BPA with behavior differed from those of prenatal BPA.
•Prenatal DEHP mixtures associated with internalizing behaviors at age 7.•Prenatal non-DEHP phthalates associated with internalizing behaviors at age 7.•Sex-specific associations between phthalate ...exposure in early childhood and behavior.
Emerging evidence suggests that phthalate exposure may be associated with behavior problems in children and that these associations may be sex specific.
In a follow up study of 411 inner-city minority mothers and their children, mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), monoisobutyl phthalate (MiBP), monethyl phthalate (MEP) and four di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate metabolites (DEHP) were quantified in maternal urine samples collected during the third trimester and in child urine samples at ages 3 and 5 years. The Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-Revised: Long Form (CPRS) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) were administered to the mothers to assess children’s behavior problems at 7 years of age. The analysis included children with available measures of CBCL, CPRS and phthalates measured in maternal urine. We performed both Quasi-Poisson regression and a mixture analysis using Weighted Quantile Sum(WQS) regression to assess the risk for CPRS scores and for internalizing and externalizing behaviors (from the CBCL) following intra-uterine exposure to the phthalate metabolites for boys and girls separately.
Among boys, increases in in anxious-shy behaviors were associated with prenatal exposure to MBzP (Mean Ratio MR = 1.20, 95%CI 1.05–1.36) and MiBP (Mean Ratio (MR) = 1.22, 95%CI 1.02–1.47). Among girls, increases in perfectionism were associated with MBzP (MR = 1.15, 95%CI 1.01–1.30). In both boys and girls, increases in psychosomatic problems were associated with MiBP (MR = 1.28, 95%CI 1.02–1.60), and MnBP (MR = 1.28, 95%CI 1.02–1.59), respectively. Among girls, decreased hyperactivity was associated with two DEHP metabolites, mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MR = 0.83, 95%CI 0.71–0.98) and mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MR = 0.85, 95%CI 0.72–0.99). Using weighted Quantile Sum logistic regression, no associations were found between the Weighted Quantile Sum (WQS) of phthalate metabolites and CPRS scores or externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Nonetheless, when the analysis was performed separately for DEHP and non-DEHP metabolites significant associations were found between the WQS of DEHP metabolites and social problems in boys (OR = 2.15, 95%CI 1.13–4.06, p-value = 0.02) anxious-shy problems in girls (OR = 2.19, 95%CI 1.15–4.16, p = 0.02), and emotional lability problems in all children (OR = 0.61, 95%CI 0.38–0.97, p = 0.04). MEHP and MEOHP were the most highly weighted DEHP metabolites in WQS mixture. The analysis performed with CBCL scale corroborated these associations.
Concentration of non-DEHP metabolites was associated with anxious-shy behaviors among boys. DEHP phthalate metabolites were associated with decreased hyperactivity and impulsivity among girls on CPRS scores. These findings lend further support to the adverse associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and childhood outcomes, and clearly suggest that such associations are sex and mixture specific.
Experimental and epidemiological studies suggest that gestational exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA), an ubiquitous endocrine disrupting chemical, may lead to neurobehavioral problems in childhood; ...however, not all results have been consistent. We previously reported a positive association between prenatal BPA exposure and symptoms of anxiety/depression reported by the mother at child age 7–9 years in boys, but not girls.
Here, in the same birth cohort, we investigated the association of prenatal BPA exposure with symptoms of depression and anxiety self-reported by the 10–12 year olds, hypothesizing that we would observe sex-specific differences in anxiety and depressive symptoms.
African-American and Dominican women living in Northern Manhattan and their children were followed from mother’s pregnancy through children’s age 10–12 years. BPA was quantified in maternal urine collected during the third trimester of pregnancy and in child urine collected at ages 3 and 5 years. Children were evaluated using the Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale (RCMAS) and Children’s Depression Rating Scale (CDRS). We compared the children in the highest tertile of BPA concentration to those in the lower two tertiles. Associations between behavior and prenatal (maternal) BPA concentration or postnatal (child) BPA concentration were assessed in regression models stratified by sex.
Significant positive associations between prenatal BPA and symptoms of depression and anxiety were observed among boys. Postnatal BPA exposure was not significantly associated with outcomes. There was substantial co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in this sample.
These results provide evidence that prenatal BPA exposure is associated with more symptoms of anxiety and depression in boys but not in girls at age 10–12 years.
•We assessed sex-specific associations between Bisphenol A (BPA) and symptoms of anxiety and depression.•We measured BPA in maternal urine during pregnancy and in child urine at ages 3–5.•BPA exposure was classified by tertile of pre and postnatal urinary concentrations.•We administered the RCMAS and CDRS to assess symptoms.•Significant positive associations between prenatal BPA and symptoms of depression and anxiety were observed among boys.
Background
Prenatal exposure to air pollution disrupts cognitive, emotional, and behavioral development. The brain disturbances associated with prenatal air pollution are largely unknown.
Methods
In ...this prospective cohort study, we estimated prenatal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and then assessed their associations with measures of brain anatomy, tissue microstructure, neurometabolites, and blood flow in 332 youth, 6–14 years old. We then assessed how those brain disturbances were associated with measures of intelligence, ADHD and anxiety symptoms, and socialization.
Results
Both exposures were associated with thinning of dorsal parietal cortices and thickening of postero–inferior and mesial wall cortices. They were associated with smaller white matter volumes, reduced organization in white matter of the internal capsule and frontal lobe, higher metabolite concentrations in frontal cortex, reduced cortical blood flow, and greater microstructural organization in subcortical gray matter nuclei. Associations were stronger for PM2.5 in boys and PAH in girls. Youth with low exposure accounted for most significant associations of ADHD, anxiety, socialization, and intelligence measures with cortical thickness and white matter volumes, whereas it appears that high exposures generally disrupted these neurotypical brain‐behavior associations, likely because strong exposure‐related effects increased the variances of these brain measures.
Conclusions
The commonality of effects across exposures suggests PM2.5 and PAH disrupt brain development through one or more common molecular pathways, such as inflammation or oxidative stress. Progressively higher exposures were associated with greater disruptions in local volumes, tissue organization, metabolite concentrations, and blood flow throughout cortical and subcortical brain regions and the white matter pathways interconnecting them. Together these affected regions comprise cortico‐striato‐thalamo‐cortical circuits, which support the regulation of thought, emotion, and behavior.
Phthalate exposures are hypothesized to increase obesity; however, prior research has been largely cross-sectional.
We evaluated associations between prenatal phthalate exposures and body mass index ...(BMI) at child ages 5 and 7 years.
Nine metabolites of six phthalates-di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), di-n-octyl-, di-iso-butyl-, di-n-butyl-, butylbenzyl-, and diethyl phthalates-were measured in spot urine samples collected from pregnant African-American and Dominican women during their third trimester, and from their children at ages 3 and 5 years. To reduce multiple comparison issues, we initially used principal component analysis (PCA) to identify major patterns of natural log (ln)-transformed metabolite concentrations. Height and weight were assessed at ages 5 and 7 years, and fat mass and waist circumference at age 7. Linearized generalized estimating equation analyses related maternal component scores to child anthropometric outcomes at ages 5 (n = 326) and 7 (n = 330) years.
PCA identified a DEHP component and a non-DEHP component. In boys, higher maternal non-DEHP, but not DEHP, component scores were associated with lower BMI z-score (β = -0.30; 95% CI: -0.50, -0.10, n = 156), lower fat percentage (β = -1.62; 95% CI: -2.91, -0.34, n = 142), and smaller waist circumference (β = -2.02; 95% CI: -3.71, -0.32, n = 124). No significant associations with anthropometric outcomes were seen in girls (for BMI z-score, β = 0.07; 95% CI: -0.18, 0.31, n = 181). Interactions between sex and non-DEHP component association with outcomes were statistically significant (p < 0.01).
Contrary to hypotheses, prenatal non-DEHP phthalate exposures were associated with lower BMI z-score, waist circumference, and fat mass in boys during early childhood.
Maresca MM, Hoepner LA, Hassoun A, Oberfield SE, Mooney SJ, Calafat AM, Ramirez J, Freyer G, Perera FP, Whyatt RM, Rundle AG. 2016. Prenatal exposure to phthalates and childhood body size in an urban cohort. Environ Health Perspect 124:514-520; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1408750.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Studies suggest that phthalate exposures may adversely affect child respiratory health.
We evaluated associations between asthma diagnosed in children between 5 and 11 years of age and prenatal ...exposures to butylbenzyl phthalate (BBzP), di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP), di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), and diethyl phthalate (DEP).
Phthalate metabolites were measured in spot urine collected from 300 pregnant inner-city women. Children were examined by an allergist or pulmonologist based on the first parental report of wheeze, other respiratory symptoms, and/or use of asthma rescue/controller medication in the preceding 12 months on repeat follow-up questionnaires. Standardized diagnostic criteria were used to classify these children as either having or not having current asthma at the time of the physician examination. Children without any report of wheeze or the other asthma-like symptoms were classified as nonasthmatics at the time of the last negative questionnaire. Modified Poisson regression analyses were used to estimate relative risks (RR) controlling for specific gravity and potential confounders.
Of 300 children, 154 (51%) were examined by a physician because of reports of wheeze, other asthma-like symptoms, and/or medication use; 94 were diagnosed with current asthma and 60 without current asthma. The remaining 146 children were classified as nonasthmatic. Compared with levels in nonasthmatics, prenatal metabolites of BBzP and DnBP were associated with a history of asthma-like symptoms (p < 0.05) and with the diagnosis of current asthma: RR = 1.17 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.35) and RR = 1.25 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.51) per natural log-unit increase, respectively. Risk of current asthma was > 70% higher among children with maternal prenatal BBzP and DnBP metabolite concentrations in the third versus the first tertile.
Prenatal exposure to BBzP and DnBP may increase the risk of asthma among inner-city children. However, because this is the first such finding, results require replication.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
In the course of infectious disease outbreaks, barriers to accessing health care can contribute to preventable mortality. According to the Ministry of Health of Haiti (Ministère de la Santé Publique ...et de la Population MSPP), the 2010 cholera epidemic caused 7,936 deaths from October 2010 to December 2012 in Haiti alone. We seek to quantify the excess mortality attributable to patients not seeking care during the cholera outbreak in the Nord Department in 2010-2012. Using data from a community-based retrospective survey conducted by Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières MSF) in Northern Haiti, we used logistic regression to examine the association between healthcare utilization and fatality among household members with watery diarrhea in the Communes of Borgne, Pilate, Plaisance, and Port-Margot in the Nord Department. We found that failing to seek care resulted in a 5-fold increase in the case fatality ratio among infected individuals (26%) versus those who sought care (5%). Common concerns noted for why care was not sought included travel distance to treatment centers, not attributing watery diarrhea episodes to cholera, and being unsure where to seek health care for their watery diarrhea episodes within their Communes. In conclusion, addressing transportation and information needs could increase healthcare utilization and reduce lives lost during an outbreak.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background Bisphenol A (BPA) is used widely to manufacture food container linings. Mouse models suggest exposure to BPA might increase allergic inflammation. Objectives We hypothesized that BPA ...exposure, as assessed based on urinary BPA concentrations, would be associated with increased odds of wheeze and asthma and increased fraction of exhaled nitric oxide (F eno ) values in children. Methods The Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health recruited pregnant women for a prospective birth cohort study (n = 568). Mothers during the third trimester and children at ages 3, 5, and 7 years provided spot urine samples. Total urinary BPA concentrations were measured by using online solid-phase extraction, high-performance liquid chromatography, isotope-dilution tandem mass spectrometry. Wheeze in the last 12 months was measured by using questionnaires at ages 5, 6, and 7 years. Asthma was determined by a physician once between ages 5 and 12 years. F eno values were measured at ages 7 to 11 years. Results Prenatal urinary BPA concentrations were associated inversely with wheeze at age 5 years (odds ratio OR, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.5-0.9; P = .02). Urinary BPA concentrations at age 3 years were associated positively with wheeze at ages 5 years (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1-1.8; P = .02) and 6 years (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0-1.9; P = .03). BPA concentrations at age 7 years were associated with wheeze at age 7 years (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.0-1.9; P = .04) and F eno values (β = 0.1; 95% CI, 0.02-0.2; P = .02). BPA concentrations at ages 3, 5, and 7 years were associated with asthma (OR, 1.5 95% CI, 1.1-2.0, P = .005; OR, 1.4 95% CI, 1.0-1.9, P = .03; and OR, 1.5 95% CI, 1.0-2.1, P = .04, respectively). Conclusions This is the first report of an association between postnatal urinary BPA concentrations and asthma in children.
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