Prenatal and childhood perfluoroalkyl substances exposures and children's reading skills at ages 5 and 8 years. (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Hongmei; Yolton, Kimberly; Webster, Glenys M.; Ye, Xiaoyun; Calafat, Antonia M.; Dietrich, Kim N.; Xu, Yingying; Xie, Changchun; Braun, Joseph M.; Lanphear, Bruce P.; Chen, Aimin
• Is Part Of: Environment international. Volume 111(2018)
• Page Start: 224
• Page End: 231
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: PFASs perfluoroalkyl substances -- PFOA perfluorooctanoic acid -- PFOS perfluorooctane sulfonate -- PFHxS perfluorohexane sulfonic acid -- PFNA perfluorononanoic acid -- PFDA perfluorodecanoic acid -- IQ Intelligence Quotient -- HOME Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment -- LOD limits of detection -- QCs quality control materials -- WJ-III Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement-III -- WRAT-4 Wide Range Achievement Test 4 -- Ln natural-log -- NHANES National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey; Prenatal -- Childhood -- Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) -- Reading skills; Environmental protection -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals; Environmental Monitoring -- Periodicals; Environnement -- Protection -- Périodiques; Hygiène du milieu -- Périodiques; Environnement -- Surveillance -- Périodiques; Environmental health; Environmental monitoring; Environmental protection; Periodicals; 333.705
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2017.11.031
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0160-4120

Abstract

Abstract: Background: Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may impact children's neurodevelopment. Objective: To examine the association of prenatal and early childhood serum PFAS concentrations with children's reading skills at ages 5 and 8 years. Methods: We used data from 167 mother-child pairs recruited during pregnancy (2003–2006) in Cincinnati, OH, quantified prenatal serum PFAS concentrations at 16 ± 3 weeks of gestation and childhood sera at ages 3 and 8 years. We assessed children's reading skills using Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement III at age 5 years and Wide Range Achievement Test-4 at age 8 years. We used general linear regression to quantify the covariate-adjusted associations between natural log-transformed PFAS concentrations and reading skills, and used multiple informant model to identify the potential windows of susceptibility. Results: Median serum PFASs concentrations were PFOS > PFOA > PFHxS > PFNA in prenatal, 3-year, and 8-year children. The covariate-adjusted general linear regression identified positive associations between serum PFOA, PFOS and PFNA concentrations and children's reading scores at ages 5 and 8 years, but no association between any PFHxS concentration and reading skills. The multiple informant model showed: a) Prenatal PFOA was positively associated with higher children's scores in Reading Composite (β: 4.0, 95% CI: 0.6, 7.4 per a natural log unit increase in exposure) and Sentence Comprehension (β: 4.2, 95% CI: 0.5, 8.0) at age 8 years; b) 3-year PFOA was positively associated with higher children's scores in Brief Reading (β: 7.3, 95% CI: 0.9, 13.8), Letter Word Identification (β: 6.6, 95% CI: 1.1, 12.0), and Passage Comprehension (β: 5.9, 95% CI: 1.5, 10.2) at age 5 years; c) 8-year PFOA was positively associated with higher children's Word Reading scores (β: 5.8, 95% CI: 0.8, 10.7) at age 8 years. Prenatal PFOS and PFNA were positively associated with children's reading abilities at age 5 years, but not at age 8 years; 3-year PFOS and PFNA were positively associated with reading scores at age 5 years. But PFHxS concentrations, at any exposure windows, were not associated with reading skills. Conclusion: Prenatal and childhood serum PFOA, PFOS and PFNA concentrations were positively associated with better children's reading skills at ages 5 and 8 years, but no association was found between serum PFHxS and reading skills. Highlights: PFASs exposure may impact children's neurodevelopment. We investigated the association of prenatal and childhood serum PFASs concentrations with children's reading skills. Prenatal and childhood PFOA, PFOS and PFNA concentrations were positively associated with better children's reading skills at ages 5 and 8 years. No associations were found between PFHxS concentration and reading skills in children.