Prenatal organophosphate insecticide exposure and infant sensory function

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Int J Hyg Environ Health
• Personal Author:
  Silver, Monica K. ; Shao, Jie ; Ji, Chai ; Zhu, Binquan ; Xu, Lin ; Li, Mingyan ; Chen, Minjian ; Xia, Yankai ; Kaciroti, Niko ; Lozoff, Betsy ; Meeker, John D.
• Description:
  Background
  
  Occupational studies suggest that exposure to organophosphate insecticides (OPs) can lead to vision or hearing loss. Yet the effects of early-life exposure on visual and auditory function are unknown. Here we examined the effects of prenatal OP exposure on grating visual acuity (VA) and auditory brainstem response (ABR) during infancy.
  
  Methods
  
  30 OPs were measured in umbilical cord blood using gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry in a cohort of Chinese infants. Grating visual acuity (VA) (n=179–200) and auditory brainstem response (ABR) (n=139–183) were assessed at 6 weeks, 9 months, and 18 months. Outcomes included VA score, ABR wave V latency and central conduction time, and head circumference (HC). Associations between sensory outcomes during infancy and cord OPs were examined using linear mixed models.
  
  Results
  
  Prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure was associated with lower 9-month grating VA scores; scores were 0.64 (95% CI: −1.22, −0.06) points lower for exposed versus unexposed infants (p=0.03). The OPs examined were not associated with infant ABR latencies, but chlorpyrifos and phorate were both significantly inversely associated with HC at 9 months; HCs were 0.41 (95% CI: 0.75, 0.6) cm and 0.44 (95% CI: 0.88, 0.1) cm smaller for chlorpyrifos (p=0.02) and phorate (p=0.04), respectively.
  
  Conclusions
  
  We found deficits in grating VA and HC in 9-month-old infants with prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos. The clinical significance of these small but statistically significant deficits is unclear. However, the disruption of visual or auditory pathway maturation in infancy could potentially negatively affect downstream cognitive development.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Article Auditory Processing Chlorpyrifos Cohort Studies Developmental Disabilities Environmental Pollutants Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem Female Fetal Blood Hearing Hearing Disorders Humans Infant Insecticides Male Maternal Exposure Mothers Neurodevelopment Organophosphorus Compounds Pesticide Phorate Pregnancy Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects Sensation Vision, Ocular Vision Disorders Visual Acuity

  More +
• Source:
  Int J Hyg Environ Health. 221(3):469-478
• Pubmed ID:
  29402694
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5902422
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  P01 HD039386/HD/NICHD NIH HHSUnited States/ ; P30 ES017885/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; R01 ES021465/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T42 OH008455/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  221
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:6777a5c508281157ce450809304e86f71be398f6baffcc88954c458dfa2e851d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/76876/cdc_76876_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 661.88 KB ]