Urinary para-nitrophenol levels of pregnant women and cognitive and motor function of their children aged 2 years: Evidence from the SMBCS (China)Show others and affiliations
2022 (English)In: Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, ISSN 0147-6513, E-ISSN 1090-2414, Vol. 244, article id 114051Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
BACKGROUND: Urinary para-nitrophenol (PNP), an exposure biomarker of ethyl parathion (EP) and methyl parathion (MP) pesticides, was still pervasively detected in the general population even after global restriction for years. And the concern whether there is an association of PNP level with child development of the nervous system is increasing. The current study aimed to evaluate the maternal urinary PNP concentrations during late pregnancy and the associations of PNP levels with cognitive and motor function of their children at the age of 2 years.
METHODS: 323 mother-child pairs from the Sheyang Mini Birth Cohort Study were included in the current study. Gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was used to measure concentrations of PNP, the specific metabolite of EP and MP, in maternal urine samples during pregnancy. Developmental quotients (DQs) scores measured with Gesell Developmental Scales were employed to evaluate cognitive and motor function of children aged 2 years. Generalized linear models were performed to analyze the associations of PNP concentrations in pregnant women's urine samples with cognitive and motor function of their children.
RESULTS: Maternal PNP was detected in all urine samples with a median of 4.11 μg/L and a range from 0.57 μg/L to 109.13 μg/L, respectively. Maternal urinary PNP concentrations showed a negative trend with DQ of motor area [regression coefficient (β) = - 1.35; 95 % confidence interval (95 %CI): - 2.37, - 0.33; P < 0.01], and the children whose mothers were in the fourth quartile exposure group performed significantly worse compared to the reference group (β = - 1.11; 95 %CI: - 1.80, - 0.42; P < 0.01). As for average DQ score, children with their mothers' urinary PNP concentrations in the third quartile group had higher scores than those in the first quartile group (β = 0.39; 95 %CI: 0.03, 0.75; P = 0.04). In sex-stratified analyses, a negative trend between maternal urinary PNP concentrations and DQ scores in motor area of children was only observed in boys (β = - 1.62; 95 %CI: - 2.80, - 0.43; P < 0.01). Boys in the third quartile group had higher DQ average scores than those in the lowest quartile as reference (β = 0.53; 95 %CI: 0.02, 1.04; P = 0.04).
CONCLUSIONS: The mothers from SMBCS may be widely exposed to EP and/or MP, which were associated with the cognitive and motor function of their children aged 2 years in a sex-specific manner. Our results might provide epidemiology evidence on the potential effects of prenatal exposure to EP and/or MP on children's cognitive and motor function.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Academia Press, 2022. Vol. 244, article id 114051
Keywords [en]
Child cognitive and motor function, Ethyl parathion, Methyl parathion, Para-nitrophenol, Pesticide exposure
National Category
Pediatrics Occupational Health and Environmental Health
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-101159DOI: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2022.114051ISI: 000867437900002PubMedID: 36075123Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85137285117OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-101159DiVA, id: diva2:1694338
Note
Funding agencies:
National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) 82073501
Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai 18ZR1404200
Shanghai "3-Year Action" Project GWV-10.1-XK11 GWV-10.1-XK12
2022-09-092022-09-092022-10-27Bibliographically approved