Early-life exposure to a mixture of organophosphate esters and child behavior

Zana Percy; Aimin Chen; Heidi Sucharew; Weili Yang; Ann M Vuong; Joseph M Braun; Bruce Lanphear; Maria Ospina; Antonia M Calafat; Kim M Cecil; Yingying Xu; Kimberly Yolton

doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114162

Early-life exposure to a mixture of organophosphate esters and child behavior

Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2023 May:250:114162. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114162. Epub 2023 Mar 28.

Authors

Zana Percy¹, Aimin Chen², Heidi Sucharew³, Weili Yang⁴, Ann M Vuong⁵, Joseph M Braun⁶, Bruce Lanphear⁷, Maria Ospina⁸, Antonia M Calafat⁸, Kim M Cecil⁹, Yingying Xu¹⁰, Kimberly Yolton¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA. Electronic address: percyzg@mail.uc.edu.
² Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
³ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
⁴ Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA.
⁶ Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
⁷ Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
⁸ National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁹ Department of Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.
¹¹ Department of Environmental and Public Health Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH, USA.

Abstract

Organophosphate esters (OPEs), widely used as flame retardants and plasticizers for commercial and residential purposes, are suspected of being neurotoxic. We aimed to assess exposure to an OPE mixture in early life and its relationship to parent-reported child behavior. We measured urinary concentrations of three OPE metabolites, bis-2-chloroethyl phosphate (BCEP), bis(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (BDCIPP), and diphenyl phosphate (DPHP), at pregnancy (16 and 26 weeks of gestation and delivery) and postnatal time points (ages 1, 2, 3, and 5 years) in the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment Study, a longitudinal pregnancy and birth cohort in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA (enrolled 2003-2006, n = 219). We used latent variable analysis in structural equations models and quantile g-computation to investigate associations of a mixture of the three OPE metabolites with parent-reported child behaviors at 3 and 8 years, measured using the Behavioral Assessment System for Children, Second Edition. Higher log-transformed urinary OPE latent variable values at 16 weeks were associated with fewer externalizing problem behaviors (ß = -5.74; 95% CI = -11.24, -0.24) and fewer overall behavioral problems at age 3 years (ß = -5.26; 95% CI = -10.33, -0.19), whereas having higher OPEs at delivery was associated with poorer overall behavioral problems at age 3 years (ß = 2.87; 95% CI = 0.13, 5.61). OPE latent variable values at 16 weeks, 26 weeks, and delivery were not associated with child behavior at 8 years. However, higher OPE latent variable values at 3 years were associated with fewer externalizing behaviors at 8 years (ß = -2.62; 95% CI = -5.13, -0.12). The quantile g-computation estimates had directions largely consistent with the latent variable analysis results. Pregnancy and postnatal urinary OPE metabolite mixtures were associated with child internalizing, externalizing, and overall negative behaviors at 3 and 8 years, but we did not identify a consistent pattern in terms of the direction of the effects or a particularly sensitive time point.

Keywords: Behavior; Children; Cohort; Gestation; Organophosphate esters.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Child
Child Behavior
Child, Preschool
Esters* / urine
Female
Flame Retardants* / analysis
Humans
Organophosphates / urine
Phosphates
Pregnancy

Substances

Esters
Organophosphates
Phosphates
Flame Retardants

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding