Effects of Maternal Prenatal Exposure to Phthalates on Childhood Behavior Age 7 Years

Abstract

Effects of Maternal Prenatal Exposure to Phthalates on Childhood Behavior Age 7 YearsAbstract Number:1783 Beverly Insel*, Pam Factor-Litvak, Antonia Calafat, Xinhua Liu, Virginia Rauh, and Robin Whyatt Beverly Insel* Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Pam Factor-Litvak Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Antonia Calafat Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Xinhua Liu Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , Virginia Rauh Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University, United States, E-mail Address: [email protected] Search for more papers by this author , and Robin Whyatt Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University, United States, E-mail Address: rmw[email protected] Search for more papers by this author AbstractIntroduction Previous research suggests that prenatal exposure to phthalates may be associated with behavior problems in children and that these associations may be sex specific.Methods In a follow up study of 303 inner-city mothers and their children (girls=160; boys=143), mono-n-butyl phthalate (MnBP), monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP), monoisobutyl phthalate (MiBP), and four di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate metabolites (DEHP) were measured in maternal third-trimester urine samples. The Conners’ Parent Rating Scale Revised (CRPS) was administered to the mothers to assess children’s emotional and behavioral problems at age 7 years. To examine the association between prenatal phthalates and the child’s problems, we used linear models for CRPS scores and logistic models for binary outcomes. Analysis was conducted on the whole sample as well as separately by sex.Results LogeMnBP concentrations were associated with increases in social problems (b = 0.43; 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.03-0.83) in boys and with psychosomatic problems (b = 0.45; 95% CI 0.03-0.86) in girls. LogeMBzP was associated with increases in perfectionism (b = 0.44; 95% CI 0.03-0.84) in girls and with anxious-shy problems (b= 0.82; 95% CI 0.24, 1.39) in boys. LogeMiBP was also associated with increases in anxious-shy problems (b = 1.04; 95% CI: 0.25-1.83) in boys. The odds ratios for the associations between each unit increase in logeMiBP and borderline/clinical DSM-IV inattentive scale was 2.24 (95% CI: 1.21-4.15) in boys. In boys and girls combined, we found inverse associations between SDEHP metabolites and both the hyperactive and DSM-IV hyperactive-impulsive scales.Conclusion Maternal prenatal exposures to specific phthalates are associated with internalizing behaviors in children at age 7 years and varied by child sex. Exposure to DEHP in boys and girls was associated with reductions in hyperactivity, possibly due to its antiandrogenic properties.