Nakajima Sonomi, Kishi Reiko
Department of Occupational Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, Chuo-ku, Sapporo, Japan.
Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi. 2009 Sep;64(4):765-73. doi: 10.1265/jjh.64.765.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins are persistent environmental pollutants. The effects of these pollutants on neurodevelopment in children have been assessed in longitudinal studies performed in areas with low-level contamination of PCBs and dioxins. Some of these studies have shown that the PCBs and dioxins induced adverse effects on the neurodevelopment of children. However, other studies did not reveal any negative effects of these chemicals on development. Thus, consistent results describing the effects of low-level PCB and dioxin exposure on children's development have not been obtained. To study the effects of these agents on the neurodevelopment of children, it is essential to identify the target of the study, determine the duration of the study, and devise a protocol for performing the studies, as these are important factors that affect research findings. Furthermore, detailed evaluations of neurodevelopment should be performed by longitudinal methods to obtain reliable measurements of outcomes. However, it is necessary to assess the burden on subjects; this step can help reduce the loss of subjects and determine the most suitable approach to evaluating neurodevelopment.
多氯联苯（PCBs）和二恶英是持久性环境污染物。在多氯联苯和二恶英低水平污染地区开展的纵向研究中，已对这些污染物对儿童神经发育的影响进行了评估。其中一些研究表明，多氯联苯和二恶英会对儿童神经发育产生不利影响。然而，其他研究并未发现这些化学物质对发育有任何负面影响。因此，尚未获得关于低水平多氯联苯和二恶英暴露对儿童发育影响的一致结果。为研究这些物质对儿童神经发育的影响，确定研究对象、研究持续时间并设计研究方案至关重要，因为这些是影响研究结果的重要因素。此外，应采用纵向方法对神经发育进行详细评估，以获得可靠的结果测量。然而，有必要评估受试者的负担；这一步骤有助于减少受试者流失，并确定评估神经发育的最合适方法。
