https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31810593/

 

Exposure to air pollution in early childhood and the association with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

 

 

Background: Exposure to air pollution in early life has been linked to cognitive deficits and adverse neurodevelopmental effects. However, studies examining associations between air pollutants and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have had conflicting findings.

Methods: Individuals born in Denmark 1992-2007 (n = 809,654) were followed for the development of ADHD from 1997 to 2013. Data on daily concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) from air-modeling data at a 1 km × 1 km resolution at residences within the first five years of life, was linked with population-based data from the Danish national registers, including data on clinical diagnoses of ADHD. We estimated incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for ADHD, according to increases in exposures, adjusting for age, year, sex, and parental education and income.

Results: Exposure to NO2 and PM2.5 during early life was associated with a significantly increased risk of ADHD: IRR of 1.38 (Cl: 1.35 to 1.42) per 10 μg/m3 increase in NO2 and an IRR of 1.51 (Cl: 1.41 to 1.62) per 5 μg/m3 increase in PM2.5. In two-pollutant models, the association between NO2 and ADHD did not change (IRR 1.35; 95% CI: 1.31 to 1.39), while the association with PM2.5 was substantially attenuated (IRR 1.07; 95% CI: 0.98 to 1.16), although in stratified models an elevated association with PM2.5 was found in the lowest quintile of NO2 exposure.

Conclusions: In this large nationwide prospective cohort study, residential air pollution exposure, specifically NO2, during early childhood was associated with the development of ADHD, even when adjusted for parental level of income and education.

 

 

 

 

 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22440811/

 

Prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and child behavior at age 6-7 years

Background: Airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are widespread urban air pollutants from fossil fuel burning and other combustion sources. We previously reported that a broad spectrum of combustion-related DNA adducts in cord blood was associated with attention problems at 6-7 years of age in the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) longitudinal cohort study.

Objectives: We evaluated the relationship between behavioral problems and two different measures of prenatal exposure--both specific to PAH--in the same cohort.

Methods: Children of nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women in New York City (NYC) were followed from in utero to 6-7 years. Prenatal PAH exposure was estimated by personal air monitoring of the mothers during pregnancy as well as by the measurement of DNA adducts specific to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a representative PAH, in maternal and cord blood. At 6-7 years of age, child behavior was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (n = 253). Generalized linear models were used to test the association between prenatal PAH exposure and behavioral outcomes.

Results: In multivariate analyses, high prenatal PAH exposure, whether characterized by personal air monitoring (greater than the median of 2.27 ng/m³) or maternal and cord adducts (detectable or higher), was positively associated with symptoms of Anxious/Depressed and Attention Problems (p ≤ 0.05).

Conclusion: These results provide additional evidence that environmental levels of PAH encountered in NYC air can adversely affect child behavior.










https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28987706/


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Environ Res
. 2018 Jan;160:506-513. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.09.002. Epub 2017 Oct 4.
Combined effects of prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and material hardship on child ADHD behavior problems
Frederica P Perera 1, Kylie Wheelock 2, Ya Wang 3, Deliang Tang 4, Amy E Margolis 5, Gladys Badia 6, Whitney Cowell 7, Rachel L Miller 8, Virginia Rauh 9, Shuang Wang 10, Julie B Herbstman 11
Affiliations expand
PMID: 28987706 PMCID: PMC5724364 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.09.002
Free PMC article
Abstract
Importance: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are carcinogenic and neurotoxic combustion by-products commonly found in urban air. Exposure to PAH is disproportionately high in low income communities of color who also experience chronic economic stress.

Objective: In a prospective cohort study in New York City (NYC) we previously found a significant association between prenatal PAH exposure and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) behavior problems at age 9. Here, we have evaluated the joint effects of prenatal exposure to PAH and prenatal/childhood material hardship on ADHD behavior problems.

Materials and methods: We enrolled nonsmoking African-American and Dominican pregnant women in New York City between 1998 and 2006 and followed their children through 9 years of age. As a biomarker of prenatal PAH exposure, PAH-DNA adducts were measured in maternal blood at delivery and were dichotomized at the limit of detection (to indicate high vs. low exposure). Maternal material hardship (lack of adequate food, housing, utilities, and clothing) was self-reported prenatally and at multiple time points through child age 9. Latent variable analysis identified four distinct patterns of hardship. ADHD behavior problems were assessed using the Conners Parent Rating Scale- Revised. Analyses adjusted for relevant covariates.

Results: Among 351 children in our sample, across all hardship groups, children with high prenatal PAH exposure (high adducts) generally had more symptoms of ADHD (higher scores) compared to those with low PAH exposure. The greatest difference was seen among the children with hardship persisting from pregnancy through childhood. Although the interactions between high PAH exposure and hardship experienced at either period ("persistent" hardship or "any" hardship) were not significant, we observed significant differences in the number of ADHD symptoms between children with high prenatal PAH exposure and either persistent hardship or any hardship compared to the others. These differences were most significant for combined high PAH and persistent hardship: ADHD Index (p < 0.008), DSM-IV Inattentive (p = 0.006), DSM-IV Hyperactive Impulsive problems (p = 0.033), and DSM-IV Index Total (p = 0.009).

Conclusion: The present findings add to existing evidence that co-exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage and air pollution in early life significantly increases the risk of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. They suggest the need for multifaceted interventions to protect pregnant mothers and their children.

Keywords: ADHD; Adducts; Air pollution; Material hardship; PAH; Prenatal.

Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Conflict of interest statement