Effects Of Perinatal Dioxin Exposure Research Articles

Impacts of perinatal dioxin exposure on gaze behavior in 2-year-old children in the largest dioxin-contaminated area in Vietnam

Fifty-five children aged 2 years from a birth cohort in the largest dioxin-contaminated area in Bien Hoa city, Vietnam participated in this survey to examine gaze behavior. Exposure levels were indicated by 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dibenzodioxin (TCDD) and toxic equivalent of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin and polychlorinated dibenzofuran (TEQ-PCDD/Fs) levels in maternal breast milk. The percentage of the total fixation duration on the face (% Face), mouth (% Mouth), and eye areas (% Eyes) when viewing silent and conversation scenes was used as gaze behavior indices. When they reached 3-year-old, autistic behavior was assessed using the Autism Spectrum Rating Scale (ASRS). A general linear model adjusted for confounding factors was used to compare gaze indices and ASRS scores between high and low dioxin exposure groups. Effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on gaze behavior were found only when viewing conversation scenes indicated by lower % Face for boys in high TCDD exposure group and lower % Eyes for girls in high TEQ-PCDD/Fs group. Increased autistic traits showed by higher ASRS scores at 3-year-old were found in both gender in the high TCDD exposure group. These findings indicate that perinatal TCDD and TEQ-PCDD/Fs exposure may reduce gaze behavior in 2-year-old children, predicting increased autistic traits at 3-year-old.

Effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on mirror neuron activity in 9-year-old children living in a hot spot of dioxin contamination in Vietnam

BackgroundFor 8 years, we have followed up a birth cohort comprising 241 mother-and-infant pairs living around the Da Nang airbase, a hot spot of dioxin contamination in Vietnam, and have reported the impacts of perinatal dioxin exposure on the neurodevelopment of children at various ages. In the present study, 9 years after birth, we investigated the effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on mu and theta rhythms by analyzing EEG power during the execution and observation of hand movements, which indicate mirror neuron system activity. MethodsOne hundred fifty-five 9-year-old children (86 boys and 69 girls) from the Da Nang birth cohort participated in the EEG examination with free viewing of hand movements. The dioxin levels in their mothers’ breast milk, measured 1 month after birth, were used as perinatal dioxin exposure markers. A log transform of the ratio of EEG power during execution or observation of the hand movements relative to the power during observation of a bouncing ball for theta and mu rhythms was used to evaluate mirror neuron activity. ResultsIn both brain hemispheres, the log power ratio in the theta band was significantly higher (i.e., less reduction of power) during observation of hand movements in girls exposed to high levels of TCDD. In boys, however, dioxin congeners other than TCDD, including HxCDDs and several PCDF congeners, contributed to increased log power ratios in the theta band. Particularly for PCDF congeners, the log power ratios in the lowest group among 4 exposure groups were lowest and significantly increased (i.e., decreasing reduction of power) with increasing dose. ConclusionPerinatal TCDD exposure may influence the mirror neuron system of the brain, which plays an important role for social-emotional behavior in children, particularly in girls living in a hot spot of dioxin contamination in Vietnam.

Effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on neonatal electroencephalography (EEG) activity of the quiet sleep stage in the most contaminated area from Agent Orange in Vietnam.

To investigate the effects of perinatal dioxin exposure indicated by dioxins in breast milk on neonatal electroencephalography (EEG) power in the quiet sleep stage, and associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of age. Fifty-one mother-newborn pairs were enrolled for neonatal EEG analysis in the quiet sleep stage from a birth cohort recruited at a prefecture hospital in Bien Hoa city, Vietnam. Relative EEG power in intra-burst-intervals and high-voltage-bursts in the trace alternant pattern were computed from EEG data during the quiet sleep stage. Forty-three mother-child pairs participated in a 2-year follow-up survey to examine neurodevelopment using the Bayley-III scale and gaze behavior exhibited by fixation duration on the face of a child talking in videos. The general linear model and regression linear model were used for data analysis after adjusting for confounding factors. Perinatal dioxin exposure, particularly 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure, influenced relative EEG power values mainly in the intra-burst-interval part of the trace alternant pattern in the quiet sleep stage. In intra-burst-intervals, decreased frontal delta power and increased frontal and parietal alpha power values in the left hemisphere and temporal beta power values in the right hemisphere were associated with increased TCDD exposure, with significant dose-response relationships. Almost none of the relative power values in these brain regions were associated with Bayley III scores, but relative delta power values were significantly associated with face fixation duration in left frontal and parietal regions at 2 years of age. Perinatal dioxin exposure influences neuronal activity in the quiet sleep stage, leading to poor communication ability indicated by gaze behavior in early childhood.

Dioxin exposure and sexual dimorphism of gaze behavior in prepubertal Vietnamese children living in Da Nang, a hot spot for dioxin contamination

Previous studies have reported that dioxin exposure alters sexual dimorphism of play behavior in pre-pubertal children. We aimed to investigate the effects of perinatal dioxin exposure, indicated by dioxins in breast milk, on sexual dimorphism of gaze behavior after adjusting for salivary testosterone (T). Participants were pre-pubertal children in a hot spot for dioxin contamination originating from herbicide spraying in Vietnam.We used eye tracking to assess gaze behavior in 172 children (100 boys and 72 girls) aged 8–9 years. Two sets of 15 pairs of pictures, one oriented towards boys and one oriented towards girls, containing 5 pairs of toy photos (non-biological stimuli) and 10 pairs of human line drawings (biological stimuli) were shown to all children. The total fixation duration for each picture was extracted using Tobii studio software and a feminine index of gaze behavior was defined as the ratio of the summed fixation duration for the girl- vs boy-oriented versions of each stimuli.When viewing non-biological stimuli, feminine index scores significantly increased with TCDD (β = 0.294) in girls only. For biological stimuli, however, feminine index scores significantly increased with TEQ-PCDD/Fs (β = 0.269) in boys and with TCDD in girls (β = 0.286). These associations were significant even after adjusting for salivary T levels, which were inversely associated with some dioxin congeners in girls. In addition, increased feminine index scores for biological stimuli were associated with lower cognitive scores for hand-movement and word-order tests in boys and for face-recognition tests in girls examined at 5 years of age.In conclusion, these results suggest that perinatal dioxin exposure may increase visual interest in girl-oriented objects through impairment of cognitive abilities in pre-pubertal Vietnamese children. PCDD congeners were associated with gaze behavior independently of T levels in boys, while this was only the case for TCDD levels in girls.

Double Burden of Nutrition and some Eating Habits Characteristics of Preschool Children in Nam Hong Commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi, 2018

Double Burden of Nutrition and some Eating Habits Characteristics of Preschool Children in Nam Hong Commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi, 2018

Effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on learning abilities of 8-year-old children in Vietnam.

We have followed a birth cohort from 2008 to 2009 near a dioxin-contaminated area of Da Nang, Vietnam, and investigated the effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on neurodevelopment from infancy to pre-school age. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on the learning abilities of the elementary-school children from the Da Nang birth cohort. From 241 mother-infant pairs recruited at baseline (134 boys and 107 girls), 185 (76.8%) participated in a follow-up when the children were 8 years of age (108 boys and 77 girls). The children's perinatal dioxin exposure was estimated using the dioxin levels in their mothers' breast milk. The Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire (CLDQ) was used to evaluate the children's learning difficulties. Math- and language-achievement scores were obtained using paper-based tests. Reading fluency was examined by having the children read passages in Vietnamese. In boys exposed to high levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (2,3,7,8-TetraCDD), CLDQ reading scores were significantly higher (worse), and language achievement scores were significantly lower. Boys exposed to high levels of 2,3,7,8-TetraCDD as well as high levels of the toxic equivalent (TEQ) of polychlorodibenzodioxins and polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDDs/Fs) had higher numbers of reading errors. Reading errors were higher and math achievement scores were lower with increasing concentrations of 1,2,3,4,7,8-HexaCDD and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HeptaCDD. In girls, no significant differences of any learning ability markers were found between high and low exposure groups to TEQ-PCDDs/Fs and these 3 congeners. Perinatal dioxin exposure may have adverse effects on the learning abilities of school children, especially boys.

Effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on development of children: a 3-year follow-up study of China cohort.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the longitudinal effects of perinatal exposure to dioxin on physical growth in a 3-year follow-up study. In 2015, 27 mother-infant pairs living in an electronic waste (e-waste) dismantling region and 35 pairs living in a control region were enrolled in the present study. Breast milk samples were collected at 4 weeks after birth. Physical growth, including weight, height, and head and chest circumferences, was measured at 6 months and 3 years of age. Dioxin levels in the breast milk were measured by gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry. Levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and toxic equivalency values in maternal breast milk of polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), and PCDDs/PCDFs were significantly higher in women residing in the e-waste dismantling region. In 3-year-old boys, inverse associations were found between height and PCDDs-TEQ. In girls, positive associations were found between height and 2,3,7,8-TetraCDD, PCDDs-TEQ, and PCDDs/PCDFs-TEQ, and for weight and PCDDs-TEQ and PCDDs/PCDFs-TEQ at 3 years of age. In this study, sex-specific differences were observed in children, in whom dioxin exposure decreased growth in boys but increased growth in girls during the first 3 years of life.

Perinatal dioxin exposure and neurodevelopment of 2-year-old Vietnamese children in the most contaminated area from Agent Orange in Vietnam

Bien Hoa airbase is the most contaminated area of dioxin contamination from Agent Orange in Vietnam, but little is known about the neurodevelopmental effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on children living nearby. We recruited 210 mother–newborn resident pairs in 2012 and 78 pairs in 2015 and followed them for 2 years to assess the children's neurodevelopment. As a control group, we used 120 mother–child pairs recruited in 2014 in the Ha Dong district of Ha Noi City, an unexposed area. Perinatal dioxin exposure levels were indicated by levels of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and toxic equivalency values of polychlorodibenzodioxins, polychlorodibenzofurans, and nonortho-polychlorinated biphenyls (TEQ-PCDD/Fs/noPCBs) in maternal breast milk. The Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) were used to assess neurodevelopment, and scores in each domain were compared between children with different exposure levels using general linear regression models and stratification by sex. Decreased expressive and composite language scores in boys and gross motor scores in girls were found in children exposed to TCDD ≥ 5.5 (pg/g lipid) compared with children with TCDD < 1.8. However, in matched pair analysis between children with TCDD ≥ 5.5 and <1.8 (pg/g lipid), lower expressive and composite language scores in boys exposed to TCDD ≥ 5.5 were significant, but lower gross motor scores in girls did not reach statistical significance. In addition, significant association was found between levels of PCDD congeners other than TCDD and gross motor scores in boys. These findings suggest that perinatal exposure of TCDD and other PCDD congeners affects development of language and gross motor skills, respectively, in boys at 2 years of age exposed to dioxins originating from Agent Orange in Vietnam.

Adverse effects of maternal dioxin exposure on fetal brain development before birth assessed by neonatal electroencephalography (EEG) leading to poor neurodevelopment; a 2-year follow-up study

We previously reported the adverse effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on child neurodevelopment around a former US military airbase in Vietnam. In the present study, we investigated the effects of maternal dioxin exposure on fetal brain development, which may predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in early childhood. A total of 55 newborns with mothers from dioxin-contaminated areas were recruited in the prefecture hospital in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. Dioxins in maternal breast milk collected 1 month after birth were used as a maternal exposure marker. Relative powers and coherence were computed from neonatal electroencephalogram (EEG) records during active sleep stages. Relationships between the EEG parameters and dioxin exposure markers were analyzed using linear regression and a general linear model after adjusting for gestational age, body length, and head circumference of infants at birth. Using data from 47 infants whose neurodevelopment was examined in a 2-year follow-up study, associations between EEG parameters and neurodevelopment were analyzed after adjusting for confounding factors. On the right frontal and parietal regions, relative delta powers were significantly decreased, and relative alpha and beta powers were significantly increased with increasing dioxin exposure. Increases in delta power and decreases in alpha power on the right frontal and parietal regions were associated with an increase in language scores at 2 years of age. Furthermore, intra- and inter-hemispheric coherence in theta and alpha bands were positively and inversely correlated with dioxin exposure, respectively, and increased intra-coherence in the right hemisphere was associated with lower language scores. These findings suggest that prenatal dioxin exposure affects neuronal activity and functional connectivity between brain regions, and may lead to poor language development.

Sex-specific effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on eating behavior in 3-year-old Vietnamese children

BackgroundWe previously reported that perinatal dioxin exposure increased autistic traits in children living in dioxin-contaminated areas of Vietnam. In the present study, we investigated the impact of dioxin exposure on children’s eating behavior, which is often altered in those with developmental disorders.MethodsA total of 185 mother-and-child pairs previously enrolled in a birth cohort in dioxin-contaminated areas participated in this survey, conducted when the children reached 3 years of age. Perinatal dioxin exposure levels in the children were estimated using dioxin levels in maternal breast milk after birth. Mothers were interviewed using the Children’s Eating Behaviour Questionnaire (CEBQ). A multiple linear regression model was used to analyze the association between dioxin exposure and CEBQ scores, after controlling for covariates such as location, parity, maternal age, maternal education, maternal body mass index, family income, children’s gestational age at delivery, and children’s age at the time of the survey. A general linear model was used to analyze the effects of sex and dioxin exposure on CEBQ scores.ResultsThere was no significant association between most dioxin congeners or toxic equivalencies of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (TEQ-PCDDs/Fs) and CEBQ scores in boys, although significant associations between some eating behavior sub-scores and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9-octachlorodibenzofuran were observed. In girls, there was a significant inverse association between levels of TEQ-PCDFs and enjoyment of food scores and between levels of TEQ-PCDFs and TEQ-PCDDs/Fs and desire to drink scores. Two pentachlorodibenzofuran congeners and 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexachlorodibenzofuran were associated with a decreased enjoyment of food score, and seven PCDF congeners were associated with a decreased desire to drink score. The adjusted mean enjoyment of food score was significantly lower in children of both sexes exposed to high levels of TEQ-PCDFs. There was, however, a significant interaction between sex and TEQ-PCDF exposure in their effect on desire to drink scores, especially in girls.ConclusionsPerinatal exposure to dioxin can influence eating behavior in children and particularly in girls. A longer follow-up study would be required to assess whether emotional development that affects eating styles and behaviors is related to dioxin exposure.

Effects of Perinatal Dioxin Exposure on Development of Children during the First 3 Years of Life

To investigate the longitudinal effects of perinatal exposure to dioxin on neurodevelopment and physical growth of a birth cohort during the first 3years of life. A total of 217 mother-infant pairs living in a dioxin-contaminated area in Vietnam were followed up. Perinatal dioxin exposure of infants was estimated by the measurement of dioxin levels in breast milk of nursing mothers. Neurodevelopment of infants and children, including cognitive, language, and motor development, was determined at 4months, 1year, and 3years of age. Physical growth, including weight, height, and head and abdominal circumferences, was measured at birth, 1 and 4months, and 1 and 3years of age. Multivariate mixed models were applied for analyzing repeated measures. In boys, composite motor and gross motor scores were decreased with increasing exposure of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TetraCDD). The high toxic equivalent of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDDs/PCDFs-TEQ) group showed a significant decrease in expressive communication score. In girls, there was no decreased score in any neurodevelopment aspects in high-exposure groups. All body size measures in boys were decreased in the high-exposure groups of 2,3,7,8-TetraCDD and PCDDs/PCDFs-TEQ. In girls, high 2,3,7,8-TetraCDD and PCDDs/PCDFs-TEQ exposure was associated with increased head and abdominal circumferences. Perinatal dioxin exposure affects physical growth and neurodevelopment of infants and children in the first 3years of life in a sex-specific manner.

Perinatal Exposure to Low Doses of Dioxin Can Permanently Impair Human Semen Quality

BackgroundIn recent decades, young men in some industrialized areas have reportedly experienced a decrease in semen quality.ObjectiveWe examined effects of perinatal dioxin exposure on sperm quality and reproductive hormones.MethodsWe investigated sperm quality and hormone concentrations in 39 sons (mean age, 22.5 years) born between 1977 and 1984 to mothers exposed to dioxin after the accident in Seveso, Italy (1976), and 58 comparisons (mean age, 24.6 years) born to mothers exposed only to background dioxin. Maternal dioxin levels at conception were extrapolated from the concentrations measured in 1976 serum samples.ResultsThe 21 breast-fed sons whose exposed mothers had a median serum dioxin concentration as low as 19 ppt at conception had lower sperm concentration (36.3 vs. 86.3 million/mL; p = 0.002), total count (116.9 vs. 231.1; p = 0.02), progressive motility (35.8 vs. 44.2%; p = 0.03), and total motile count (38.7 vs. 98 million; p = 0.01) than did the 36 breast-fed comparisons. The 18 formula-fed exposed and the 22 formula-fed and 36 breast-fed comparisons (maternal dioxin background 10 ppt at conception) had no sperm-related differences. Follicle-stimulating hormone was higher in the breast-fed exposed group than in the breast-fed comparisons (4.1 vs. 2.63 IU/L; p = 0.03) or the formula-fed exposed (4.1 vs. 2.6 IU/L; p = 0.04), and inhibin B was lower (breast-fed exposed group, 70.2; breast-fed comparisons, 101.8 pg/mL, p = 0.01; formula-fed exposed, 99.9 pg/mL, p = 0.02).ConclusionsIn utero and lactational exposure of children to relatively low dioxin doses can permanently reduce sperm quality.