Cadmium Exposure and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in U.S. Children

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Environ Health Perspect
• Personal Author:
  Ciesielski, Timothy ; Weuve, Jennifer ; Bellinger, David C. ; Schwartz, Joel ; Lanphear, Bruce ; Wright, Robert O.
• Description:
  Low-level environmental cadmium exposure in children may be associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes.|Our aim was to evaluate associations between urinary cadmium concentration and reported learning disability (LD), special education utilization, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in U.S. children using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data.|We analyzed data from a subset of participants in NHANES (1999-2004) who were 6-15 years of age and had spot urine samples analyzed for cadmium. Outcomes were assessed by parent or proxy-respondent report. We fit multivariable-adjusted logistic regression models to estimate associations between urinary cadmium and the outcomes.|When we compared children in the highest quartile of urinary cadmium with those in the lowest quartile, odds ratios adjusted for several potential confounders were 3.21 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.43, 7.17] for LD, 3.00 (95% CI: 1.12, 8.01) for special education, and 0.67 (95% CI: 0.28, 1.61) for ADHD. There were no significant interactions with sex, but associations with LD and special education were somewhat stronger in males, and the trend in the ADHD analysis was only evident among those with blood lead levels above the median.|These findings suggest that children who have higher urinary cadmium concentrations may have increased risk of both LD and special education. Importantly, we observed these associations at exposure levels that were previously considered to be without adverse effects, and these levels are common among U.S. children.
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Attention Deficit Disorder With Hyperactivity Cadmium Child Environmental Exposure Female Humans Learning Disorders Male Nutrition Surveys
• Source:
  Environ Health Perspect. 2012; 120(5):758-763.
• Pubmed ID:
  22289429
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC3346779
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  P30 ES00002/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; P42 ES016454/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; P42 S016454/PHS HHS/United States ; R01 ES013744/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; R01 ES014930/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; R01 ES020268/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States ; T32 MH073122/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States ; T42 OH008416/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United States
• Name as Subject:
  National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.)
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• Volume:
  120
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041370
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:46767e2372343bd4b06904832c959cf91d4cca106ec210c874154b5aba39a6972795a25e84e3af0ce767539e75c7b2047ef742c5cf8dc771f70a6002235af578
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/22739/cdc_22739_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 288.69 KB ]