Hong Liang1, Ann M Vuong2, Changchun Xie3, Glenys M Webster4, Andreas Sjödin5, Wei Yuan6, Maohua Miao6, Joseph M Braun7, Kim N Dietrich2, Kimberly Yolton8, Bruce P Lanphear4, Aimin Chen9. 1. Department of Reproductive Epidemiology and Social Medicine, NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation (Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research), Fudan University, Shanghai 200237, China; Division of Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA. 2. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA. 3. Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA. 4. BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 5. Division of Laboratory Sciences, National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA. 6. Department of Reproductive Epidemiology and Social Medicine, NHC Key Lab of Reproduction Regulation (Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research), Fudan University, Shanghai 200237, China. 7. Department of Epidemiology, Brown University School of Public Health, Providence, RI, USA. 8. Division of General and Community Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA. 9. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA. Electronic address: aimin.chen@uc.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) exist extensively in the environment and human beings. PBDE concentrations are higher in children than adults. A previous study found that prenatal PBDE exposure was associated with decreased reading skills in children; however, evidence is limited on the potential impact of childhood exposure to PBDEs. The study examined the association between childhood PBDE exposures and reading ability in children at ages 5 and 8 years. METHODS: The study included 230 children from an ongoing prospective pregnancy and birth cohort study, the Health Outcomes and Measures of Environment (HOME) Study, conducted in Cincinnati, Ohio. Children's serum concentrations of eleven PBDE congeners were measured at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 years. The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement - III and the Wide Range Achievement Test - 4 were administered to assess children's reading skills at ages 5 and 8 years, respectively. We used multiple informant models to examine the associations between repeated measures of PBDEs and reading scores at ages 5 and 8 years. We also estimated the βs and 95% CIs of the association of PBDE measure at each age by including interaction terms between PBDE concentrations and child age in the models. RESULTS: All childhood BDE-153 concentrations were inversely associated with reading scores at 5 and 8 years, but associations were not statistically significant after covariate adjustment. For example, a 10-fold increase in BDE-153 concentrations at ages 3 and 5 years was associated with a -5.0 (95% confidence interval (CI): -11.0, 1.0) and -5.5 (95% CI: -12.5, 1.4) point change in Basic Reading score at age 5 years, respectively. Similarly, the estimates for Brief Reading score at age 5 years were -4.5 (95% CI: -10.5, 1.5) and -5.2 (95% CI: -12.2, 1.7) point changes, respectively. Serum concentration of BDE-47, -99, -100, and Sum4PBDEs (sum of BDE-47, 99, 100, and 153) at every age were inversely associated with reading scores at ages 5 and 8 years in unadjusted analyses. While the adjusted estimates were much attenuated and became non-significant, the direction of most of the associations was not altered. CONCLUSION: Our study has shown a suggestive but non-significant trend of inverse associations between childhood PBDE serum concentrations, particularly BDE-153, and children's reading skills. Future studies with a larger sample size are needed to examine these associations.
BACKGROUND:Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) exist extensively in the environment and human beings. PBDE concentrations are higher in children than adults. A previous study found that prenatal PBDE exposure was associated with decreased reading skills in children; however, evidence is limited on the potential impact of childhood exposure to PBDEs. The study examined the association between childhood PBDE exposures and reading ability in children at ages 5 and 8 years. METHODS: The study included 230 children from an ongoing prospective pregnancy and birth cohort study, the Health Outcomes and Measures of Environment (HOME) Study, conducted in Cincinnati, Ohio. Children's serum concentrations of eleven PBDE congeners were measured at 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 years. The Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement - III and the Wide Range Achievement Test - 4 were administered to assess children's reading skills at ages 5 and 8 years, respectively. We used multiple informant models to examine the associations between repeated measures of PBDEs and reading scores at ages 5 and 8 years. We also estimated the βs and 95% CIs of the association of PBDE measure at each age by including interaction terms between PBDE concentrations and child age in the models. RESULTS: All childhood BDE-153 concentrations were inversely associated with reading scores at 5 and 8 years, but associations were not statistically significant after covariate adjustment. For example, a 10-fold increase in BDE-153 concentrations at ages 3 and 5 years was associated with a -5.0 (95% confidence interval (CI): -11.0, 1.0) and -5.5 (95% CI: -12.5, 1.4) point change in Basic Reading score at age 5 years, respectively. Similarly, the estimates for Brief Reading score at age 5 years were -4.5 (95% CI: -10.5, 1.5) and -5.2 (95% CI: -12.2, 1.7) point changes, respectively. Serum concentration of BDE-47, -99, -100, and Sum4PBDEs (sum of BDE-47, 99, 100, and 153) at every age were inversely associated with reading scores at ages 5 and 8 years in unadjusted analyses. While the adjusted estimates were much attenuated and became non-significant, the direction of most of the associations was not altered. CONCLUSION: Our study has shown a suggestive but non-significant trend of inverse associations between childhood PBDE serum concentrations, particularly BDE-153, and children's reading skills. Future studies with a larger sample size are needed to examine these associations.
Authors: Joseph M Braun; Kimberly Yolton; Shaina L Stacy; Bahar Erar; George D Papandonatos; David C Bellinger; Bruce P Lanphear; Aimin Chen Journal: Neurotoxicology Date: 2017-07-20 Impact factor: 4.294
Authors: Joseph M Braun; Geetika Kalloo; Aimin Chen; Kim N Dietrich; Stacey Liddy-Hicks; Samantha Morgan; Yingying Xu; Kimberly Yolton; Bruce P Lanphear Journal: Int J Epidemiol Date: 2017-02-01 Impact factor: 7.196
Authors: Mireia Gascon; Martine Vrijheid; David Martínez; Joan Forns; Joan O Grimalt; Maties Torrent; Jordi Sunyer Journal: Environ Int Date: 2011-01-14 Impact factor: 9.621
Authors: Whitney J Cowell; Amy Margolis; Virginia A Rauh; Andreas Sjödin; Richard Jones; Ya Wang; Wanda Garcia; Frederica Perera; Shuang Wang; Julie B Herbstman Journal: Environ Int Date: 2018-05-26 Impact factor: 9.621
Authors: Whitney J Cowell; Sally A Lederman; Andreas Sjödin; Richard Jones; Shuang Wang; Frederica P Perera; Richard Wang; Virginia A Rauh; Julie B Herbstman Journal: Neurotoxicol Teratol Date: 2015-09-05 Impact factor: 3.763
Authors: Leisa-Maree L Toms; Andreas Sjödin; Fiona Harden; Peter Hobson; Richard Jones; Emily Edenfield; Jochen F Mueller Journal: Environ Health Perspect Date: 2009-05-06 Impact factor: 9.031
Authors: Ann M Vuong; Changchun Xie; Roman Jandarov; Kim N Dietrich; Hongmei Zhang; Andreas Sjödin; Antonia M Calafat; Bruce P Lanphear; Lawrence McCandless; Joseph M Braun; Kimberly Yolton; Aimin Chen Journal: Int J Hyg Environ Health Date: 2020-06-07 Impact factor: 5.840
Authors: Mhar Y Alvarez-Gonzalez; Eduardo Sánchez-Islas; Samuel Mucio-Ramirez; Patricia de Gortari; María I Amaya; Prasada Rao S Kodavanti; Martha León-Olea Journal: Toxicol Appl Pharmacol Date: 2020-02-04 Impact factor: 4.219
Authors: Liheng H Zhuang; Aimin Chen; Joseph M Braun; Bruce P Lanphear; Janice M Y Hu; Kimberly Yolton; Lawrence C McCandless Journal: Environ Epidemiol Date: 2021-06-08