Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032 , USA.
Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Aug;119(8):1176-81. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1002705. Epub 2011 Apr 12.
Airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are widespread urban pollutants that can bind to DNA to form PAH-DNA adducts. Prenatal PAH exposure measured by personal monitoring has been linked to cognitive deficits in childhood in a prospective study conducted by the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health.
We measured PAH-DNA and other bulky aromatic adducts in umbilical cord white blood cells using the 32P-postlabeling assay to determine the association between this molecular dosimeter and behavioral/attention problems in childhood.
Children born to nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women residing in New York City (NYC) were followed from in utero to 7-8 years of age. At two time points before 8 years of age (mean ages, 4.8 years and 7 years), child behavior was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). To estimate and test the association between adducts and behavioral outcomes, both CBCL continuous raw scores and dichotomized T-scores were analyzed.
Higher cord adducts were associated with higher symptom scores of Anxious/Depressed at 4.8 years and Attention Problems at 4.8 and 7 years, and with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition-oriented Anxiety Problems at 4.8 years.
These results suggest that PAH exposure, measured by DNA adducts, may adversely affect child behavior, potentially affecting school performance.
空气中的多环芳烃（PAH）是广泛存在的城市污染物，可与 DNA 结合形成 PAH-DNA 加合物。哥伦比亚儿童环境健康中心进行的一项前瞻性研究表明，通过个人监测测量的产前 PAH 暴露与儿童认知缺陷有关。
我们使用 32P-后标记法测量脐带白细胞中的 PAH-DNA 和其他大分子芳香族加合物，以确定这种分子剂量计与儿童行为/注意力问题之间的关联。
在纽约市（NYC）居住的不吸烟的非裔美国人和多米尼加妇女所生的儿童从宫内到 7-8 岁进行随访。在 8 岁之前的两个时间点（平均年龄分别为 4.8 岁和 7 岁），使用儿童行为检查表（CBCL）评估儿童行为。为了估计和检验加合物与行为结果之间的关联，我们分析了 CBCL 连续原始分数和二分 T 分数。
脐带加合物较高与 4.8 岁时的焦虑/抑郁症状评分较高和 4.8 岁和 7 岁时的注意力问题以及 4.8 岁时的《精神障碍诊断与统计手册》第 4 版焦虑问题相关。
这些结果表明，PAH 暴露（通过 DNA 加合物测量）可能会对儿童行为产生不利影响，从而可能影响学习成绩。
