Early-life exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and autistic traits in childhood and adolescence: a systematic review of epidemiological studies

Yandra Giovanna de Oliveira Cunha; Giovanna Cavalcanti Brito do Amaral; Alana Almeida Felix; Bruce Blumberg; Angelica Amorim Amato

doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1184546

Early-life exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals and autistic traits in childhood and adolescence: a systematic review of epidemiological studies

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Jun 9:14:1184546. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1184546. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Yandra Giovanna de Oliveira Cunha¹, Giovanna Cavalcanti Brito do Amaral¹, Alana Almeida Felix², Bruce Blumberg^{3

4

5}, Angelica Amorim Amato²

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
² Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil.
³ Department of Developmental and Cell Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States.

Abstract

Aims: Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) during critical neurodevelopmental windows has been associated with the risk of autistic traits. This systematic review of epidemiological studies examined the association between maternal exposure to EDCs during pregnancy and the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the offspring.

Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar from inception to November 17, 2022, for studies investigating the association between prenatal exposure to EDCs and outcomes related to ASD. Two independent reviewers screened studies for eligibility, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias. The review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023389386).

Results: We included 27 observational studies assessing prenatal exposure to phthalates (8 studies), polychlorinated biphenyls (8 studies), organophosphate pesticides (8 studies), phenols (7 studies), perfluoroalkyl substances (6 studies), organochlorine pesticides (5 studies), brominated flame retardants (3 studies), dioxins (1 study), and parabens (1 study). The number of examined children ranged from 77 to 1,556, the age at the assessment of autistic traits ranged from 3 to 14 years, and most studies assessed autistic traits using the Social Responsiveness Scale. All but one study was considered to have a low risk of bias. Overall, there was no association between maternal exposure to specific ECDs during pregnancy and the occurrence of autistic traits in offspring.

Conclusions: Findings from the epidemiological studies evaluated here do not support an association between prenatal exposure to ECDs and the likelihood of autistic traits in later in life. These findings should not be interpreted as definitive evidence of the absence of neurodevelopment effects of EDCs affecting ASD risk, given the limitations of current studies such as representative exposure assessment, small sample sizes, inadequacy to assess sexually dimorphic effects, or the effects of EDC mixtures. Future studies should carefully address these limitations.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; autistic traits; endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs); neurodevelopment; pesticides.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Autism Spectrum Disorder* / chemically induced
Autism Spectrum Disorder* / epidemiology
Autistic Disorder*
Child
Child, Preschool
Endocrine Disruptors* / adverse effects
Epidemiologic Studies
Female
Humans
Pesticides* / adverse effects
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects* / chemically induced
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects* / epidemiology

Substances

Endocrine Disruptors
Pesticides

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Foundation for Research Support of the Federal District, Brazil (grant 00193-00000889/2021-10). The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, manuscript preparation and revision, or publication decisions.