Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China.
Environ Int. 2019 May;126:413-421. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2019.01.023. Epub 2019 Mar 2.
Benzophenones (BPs), parabens, and triclosan (TCS) are widely used in personal care products and may be neurotoxic to children, but limited studies have estimated the associations between exposure to these potential endocrine disrupting chemicals during pregnancy and child neurocognitive development.
Our aim was to evaluate the relationships of prenatal exposure to BPs, parabens and TCS with child neurocognitive development at age 2.
From 2014 to 2015, 478 mother-child pairs from a longitudinal prenatal cohort in China were included in present study. We quantified BPs, parabens and TCS in three spot urine samples during pregnancy (in the first, second, and third trimester). The Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) test to children was performed at 2 years. Multivariate linear regression models and generalized estimating equations were used to examine changes in mental developmental index (MDI) and psychomotor development index (PDI) per 2-fold increase in averaged and trimester-specific maternal urinary phenols, respectively.
In the adjusted models, each 2-fold increase in average prenatal paraben concentration was associated with lower MDI scores among girls [-1.08 (95% CI: -2.10, -0.06) and - 1.51 (95% CI: -2.69, -0.32) for methyl paraben (Mep) and Σparabens, respectively], but the association was not statistically significant among boys [-0.24 (95% CI: -1.46, 0.99), P = 0.37 and 0.18 (95% CI: -1.28, 1.64), P = 0.10 for Mep and Σparabens, respectively]. Increasing urinary 4-hydroxybenzophenone (4-OH-BP) concentration was associated with lower PDI scores among boys [-2.96 (95% CI: -4.48, -1.45)], not girls [-0.07 (95% CI: -1.57, 1.43)] and the association was significantly different in boys and girls (P = 0.01). No significant associations were observed between the average prenatal TCS exposure and BSID results. In trimester-specific analyses, increasing parabens was associated with lower girls' MDI only in the second trimester, while increasing 4-OH-BP was associated with lower boys' PDI in each trimester.
Our results suggest that prenatal exposure to BPs and parabens may be associated with impairment in child cognitive abilities at 2 years. Further human and animal studies are needed to verify our results and elucidate the biological mechanisms involved in these associations.
苯甲酮（BPs）、对羟基苯甲酸酯（parabens）和三氯生（TCS）广泛应用于个人护理产品中，可能对儿童具有神经毒性，但目前有限的研究评估了怀孕期间接触这些潜在内分泌干扰化学物质与儿童神经认知发育之间的关系。
我们旨在评估产前暴露于 BPs、对羟基苯甲酸酯和 TCS 与 2 岁儿童神经认知发育的关系。
2014 年至 2015 年，来自中国一项纵向产前队列的 478 对母婴对纳入本研究。我们在怀孕期间（第一、第二和第三个三个月）采集了三个尿样点的 BPs、对羟基苯甲酸酯和 TCS。对 2 岁的儿童进行贝利婴幼儿发展量表（BSID）测试。使用多元线性回归模型和广义估计方程，分别评估平均和每个三个月特异性母体尿酚的 2 倍增加与精神发育指数（MDI）和精神运动发育指数（PDI）的变化。
在调整后的模型中，每种 2 倍的母体产前对羟基苯甲酸酯浓度增加与女孩的 MDI 评分降低相关（[Mep 和 Σparabens 分别为-1.08（95%CI：-2.10，-0.06）和-1.51（95%CI：-2.69，-0.32）]），但男孩中的相关性无统计学意义（[Mep 和 Σparabens 分别为-0.24（95%CI：-1.46，0.99）和 0.18（95%CI：-1.28，1.64）]）。尿液中 4-羟基苯甲酮（4-OH-BP）浓度的增加与男孩的 PDI 评分降低相关（[4-OH-BP：-2.96（95%CI：-4.48，-1.45）]），但与女孩的 PDI 评分降低无关（[0.07（95%CI：-1.57，1.43）]），男孩和女孩之间的差异有统计学意义（P=0.01）。TCS 暴露与 BSID 结果之间无显著相关性。在特定三个月的分析中，仅在第二个三个月时，母体对羟基苯甲酸酯的增加与女孩的 MDI 降低相关，而 4-OH-BP 的增加与每个三个月的男孩 PDI 降低相关。
我们的结果表明，产前暴露于 BPs 和对羟基苯甲酸酯可能与 2 岁时儿童认知能力受损有关。需要进一步的人体和动物研究来验证我们的结果，并阐明这些关联中涉及的生物学机制。
