Article: prenatal exposure to flame-retandants affects neurodevelopment. DUH.

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Prenatal Exposure to Flame-Retardant Compounds Affects Neurodevelopment of Young

Children

Prenatal exposure to ambient levels of flame retardant compounds called

polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) is associated with adverse

neurodevelopmental effects in young children, according to researchers at the

Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at Columbia

University's Mailman School of Public Health.

The study is online in Environmental Health Perspectives and will be released in

the April 2010 print issue.

PBDEs are endocrine-disrupting chemicals and widely used flame-retardant

compounds that are applied to a broad array of textiles and consumer products,

including mattresses, upholstery, building materials, and electronic equipment.

Because the compounds are additives rather than chemically bound to consumer

products, they can be released into the environment. Human exposure may occur

through dietary ingestion or through inhalation of dust containing PBDEs.

The researchers found that children with higher concentrations of PBDEs in their

umbilical cord blood at birth scored lower on tests of mental and physical

development between the ages of one and six. Developmental effects were

particularly evident at four years of age, when verbal and full IQ scores were

reduced 5.5 to 8.0 points for those with the highest prenatal exposures.

" The neurodevelopmental effects of prenatal exposure to PBDEs have not

previously been studied among children in North America, where levels are

typically higher than in Europe or Asia, " said Herbstman, PhD, first

author on the paper and a research scientist in Environmental Health Sciences at

the Mailman School of Public Health. " The findings are consistent with effects

observed in animal studies and, if replicated in other North American

populations, they could have important public health implications. "

Frederica Perera, DrPh, professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the

Mailman School, CCCEH Director, and coauthor added, " These findings are of

potential concern, because IQ is a predictor of future educational performance;

and the observed reductions in IQ scores are in the range seen with low level

lead exposure. " This research underscores the need for preventive policies to

reduce toxic exposures occurring in utero. "

The investigators controlled for factors that have previously been linked to

neurodevelopment in other studies, including ethnicity, mother's IQ, child's

sex, gestational age at birth, maternal age, prenatal exposure to environmental

tobacco smoke, maternal education, material hardship, and breast feeding.

The study is part of a broader project examining the effects of chemicals

released by the World Trade Center's destruction on pregnant women and their

children. However, residential proximity to the World Trade Center site did not

affect levels of PBDE exposure.

Other investigators from the Mailman School of Public Health or the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention are s Sjödin, PhD, Kurzon, MS,

Sally A. Lederman, PhD, S. , Virginia Rauh, PhD, Larry L. Needham,

PhD, Deliang Tang, MD, DrPH, Niedzwiecki, and Y. Wang, DO.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health

Sciences, the New York Community Trust, the New York Times Company Foundation,

and the September 11 Children's Fund.

 

 

 

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