Beatriz González-Alzaga1, Antonio F Hernández2, Miguel Rodríguez-Barranco1, Inmaculada Gómez3, Clemente Aguilar-Garduño4, Inmaculada López-Flores5, Tesifón Parrón6, Marina Lacasaña7. 1. Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), Granada, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, Hospitales Universitarios de Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain. 2. Department of Legal Medicine and Toxicology, University of Granada School of Medicine, Granada, Spain. 3. Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Almería, Spain. 4. Center for Public Health Research (CSISP-FISABIO), Valencia, Spain. 5. Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, Hospitales Universitarios de Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain; Department of Genetics, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Spain. 6. University of Almería, Department of Neurosciences and Health Sciences, Almería, Spain; Andalusian Council of Health at Almería Province, Almería, Spain. 7. Andalusian School of Public Health (EASP), Granada, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria, ibs.GRANADA, Hospitales Universitarios de Granada/Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain; CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain. Electronic address: marina.lacasana.easp@juntadeandalucia.es.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Childrens exposure to neurotoxic compounds poses a major problem to public health because oftheir actively developing brain that makes them highly vulnerable. However, limited information is available on neuropsychological effects in children associated with pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between current and pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides and their effects on neurodevelopment in children aged 6–11 years living in agricultural communities from South-Eastern Spain. METHODS: An ambispective study was conducted on 305 children aged 6–11 years randomly selected from public schools of the study area. Current exposure to organophosphate pesticides was assessed measuring children's urinary levels of dialkylphosphates (DAPs). Both prenatal and postnatal residential exposure to pesticides was estimated by developing a geographical information system (GIS) technology-based index that integrated distance-weighted measure of agricultural surface, time-series of crop areas per municipality and year, and land-use maps. Neuropsychological performance was evaluated with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). The association of pre- and postnatal and current pesticide exposure with WISC-IV scale scores was assessed using multivariate linear regression models and generalized estimating equation (GEE) models, respectively. RESULTS: Greater urinary DAP levels were associated with a poorer performance on intelligence quotient and verbal comprehension domain, with effects being more prominent in boys than in girls. The influence of an increase in 10 ha per year in crop surface around the child's residence during the postnatal period was associated with decreased intelligence quotient, processing speed and verbal comprehension scores. As regards prenatal exposure to pesticides, a poor processing speed performance was observed. These effects were also more prominent in boys than in girls. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that postnatal exposure to pesticides can negatively affect children's neuropsychological performance. Prenatal exposure was weakly associated to neurodevelopment impairment.
BACKGROUND: Childrens exposure to neurotoxic compounds poses a major problem to public health because oftheir actively developing brain that makes them highly vulnerable. However, limited information is available on neuropsychological effects in children associated with pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between current and pre- and postnatal exposures to pesticides and their effects on neurodevelopment in children aged 6–11 years living in agricultural communities from South-Eastern Spain. METHODS: An ambispective study was conducted on 305 children aged 6–11 years randomly selected from public schools of the study area. Current exposure to organophosphate pesticides was assessed measuring children's urinary levels of dialkylphosphates (DAPs). Both prenatal and postnatal residential exposure to pesticides was estimated by developing a geographical information system (GIS) technology-based index that integrated distance-weighted measure of agricultural surface, time-series of crop areas per municipality and year, and land-use maps. Neuropsychological performance was evaluated with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). The association of pre- and postnatal and current pesticide exposure with WISC-IV scale scores was assessed using multivariate linear regression models and generalized estimating equation (GEE) models, respectively. RESULTS: Greater urinary DAP levels were associated with a poorer performance on intelligence quotient and verbal comprehension domain, with effects being more prominent in boys than in girls. The influence of an increase in 10 ha per year in crop surface around the child's residence during the postnatal period was associated with decreased intelligence quotient, processing speed and verbal comprehension scores. As regards prenatal exposure to pesticides, a poor processing speed performance was observed. These effects were also more prominent in boys than in girls. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that postnatal exposure to pesticides can negatively affect children's neuropsychological performance. Prenatal exposure was weakly associated to neurodevelopment impairment.
Authors: Elizabeth Friedman; Marnie F Hazlehurst; Christine Loftus; Catherine Karr; Kelsey N McDonald; Jose Ricardo Suarez-Lopez Journal: Int J Hyg Environ Health Date: 2019-10-10 Impact factor: 5.840
Authors: Shelley H Liu; Jennifer F Bobb; Birgit Claus Henn; Chris Gennings; Lourdes Schnaas; Martha Tellez-Rojo; David Bellinger; Manish Arora; Robert O Wright; Brent A Coull Journal: Stat Med Date: 2018-09-12 Impact factor: 2.373