Cognitive development of children prenatally exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (Yu-Cheng children) and their siblings.
An intoxication episode resulting from rice-bran oil (Yu-Cheng) contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) occurred in Taiwan from 1978 to 1979. After that episode, the authors found 15 Yu-Cheng children who were born to intoxicated mothers after their documented consumption of PCB-contaminated oil; these children had older siblings, born before PCB exposure, without prenatal PCB exposure. The cognitive development of these Yu-Cheng children and the youngest of their elder siblings were assessed annually from 1985 to 1990 using the Chinese version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revised Version (WISC-R) for those over six years of age. Compared with their elder siblings, the Yu-Cheng children scored significantly lower (p < 0.05) on the verbal intelligence quotient, by 6.8-16.1 points; on performance IQ by 10.2-18.4 points; and on full-scale IQ by 8.9-18.5 points, during the six measurements performed from 1985 to 1990. The differences in WISC-R IQ scores between the two groups have remained unchanged during these six years of follow-up.
Chen
Y C
YC
Department of Psychiatry, National Cheng Kung University Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Guo
Y L
YL
Hsu
C C
CC
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D012275:Oryza; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D013624:Taiwan; D014888:Wechsler Scales
D010938:Plant Oils; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls