Effects of environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins on cognitive abilities in Dutch children at 42 months of age

doi:10.1016/S0022-3476(99)70369-0

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 134, Issue 1, January 1999, Pages 33-41

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(99)70369-0 Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective: To study possible adverse effects of environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) and dioxins on cognitive functioning in young children. Methods: In a follow-up of the Dutch PCB/Dioxin study, cognitive abilities were assessed with the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children in 42-month-old children (n = 395). In a subgroup (n = 193) verbal comprehension was assessed with the Reynell Language Developmental Scales. Prenatal PCB exposure was estimated from the sum of PCBs 118, 138, 153, and 180 (ΣPCB) in maternal plasma. Lactational exposure was assessed from breast milk PCB and dioxin concentrations, multiplied by the number of weeks of breast-feeding. Current PCB body burden was estimated from ΣPCB in 42-month-old plasma samples. Results: After adjustment was done for covariables, maternal ΣPCB was associated with lower scores on the overall cognitive and sequential and simultaneous processing scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (all P < .05). The highest exposed group (ΣPCB ≥ 3 μg/L) scored 4 points lower on all 3 scales of the K-ABC when compared with the lowest exposed group (ΣPCB < 1.5 μg/L). Both lactational exposure and current exposure to PCBs and dioxins were not related to 42-month cognitive performance. Conclusions: In utero exposure to “background” PCB concentrations is associated with poorer cognitive functioning in preschool children. Children of mothers at the upper end of exposure are especially at risk. Therefore maternal PCB body burden should be reduced, and breast-feeding should not be discouraged. (J Pediatr 1999;134:33-41)

Section snippets

Subjects

From June 1990 until June 1992, healthy pregnant women living in Rotterdam and Groningen were asked by their obstetrician or midwife to participate in a prospective, longitudinal, neurodevelopmental study. The Rotterdam area is a highly industrialized and densely populated region situated in the west, and the Groningen area is a semiurban region in the north of the Netherlands. To study the effects of prenatal and postnatal PCB and dioxin exposure, women who intended to breast-feed their child

RESULTS

From the original cohort of 418 children, 209 were BF and 209 were FF during infancy; 207 subjects were from the Rotterdam area, and 211 were from the Groningen area. At 42 months of age 395 (94%) subjects were re-examined for their neurodevelopmental follow-up; 6% (n = 23) were lost to follow-up because of a lack of interest (n = 19) and emigration (n = 4). Another 15 children failed to cooperate with the testing procedure, refusing to respond to some of the 11 subtests, and were excluded from

DISCUSSION

We report that prenatal exposure to “background” PCB concentrations is associated with poorer performance on cognitive tests in Dutch children at 42 months of age. No associations between lactational exposure to PCBs and dioxins nor current PCB body burden and cognitive abilities at 42 months of age are found, suggesting that the developing fetal brain is particularly sensitive to these compounds. Our results are in agreement with the reported cognitive deficits in the Yu-Cheng “poisoning” study

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr C. Koopman-Esseboom and Dr M. Huisman for the recruitment of all mother-infant pairs. We thank Prof J. L. Jacobson and Prof G. Winneke for their critical review of this article, and all the families who have participated in this follow-up study.

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^☆: Funded by the European Commission within the Environmental and Health Programmes (Contract-No EV5V-CT92-0207).

^☆☆: Reprint requests: Svati Patandin, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, SP 3435, Sophia Children’s Hospital, PO Box 2060, 3000 CB Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

^★: 0022-3476/99/$8.00 + 0 9/21/94848

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Effects of environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins on cognitive abilities in Dutch children at 42 months of age☆,☆☆,★

Abstract

Section snippets

Subjects

RESULTS

DISCUSSION

Acknowledgements

J Pediatr

J Pediatr

Ann Epidemiol

J Pediatr

Early Hum Dev

Early Hum Dev

Chemosphere

Fundam Appl Toxicol

Early Hum Dev

Production, properties and usage of polychlorinated biphenyls

Overview: the dioxin debate

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): environmental impact, biochemical and toxic responses, and implications for risk assessment

Crit Rev Toxicol

The transfer of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) across the human placenta and into maternal milk

Am J Public Health

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) in human milk: effects of maternal factors and previous lactation

Am J Public Health

Plasma polychlorinated biphenyl levels in Dutch preschool children either breast-fed or formula-fed during infancy

Am J Public Health

Intrauterine poisoning: Clinical and epidemiological studies and significance of the problem

Bull Inst Const Med Kumamoto Univ

Congenital poisoning by polychlorinated biphenyls and their contaminants in Taiwan

Science