title: In utero exposure to DDT and performance on the Brazelton neonatal behavioral assessment scale.
abstract: We investigated whether decrements in neonatal neurodevelopment, as determined by the Brazelton neonatal behavioral assessment scale (BNBAS), were associated with in utero exposure to dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT): p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (p,p'-DDT), o,p'-dichlorodiphenyl trichloroethane (o,p'-DDT) and p,p'-DDT's primary breakdown product p,p'-dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) (heretofore collectively referred to as DDT/DDE). Our subjects were a birth cohort of 303 infants whose mothers were low-income Latinas living in the Salinas Valley, an agricultural community in California. We assessed neonates < or =2 months old using the seven BNBAS clusters (habituation, orientation, motor performance, range of state, regulation of state, autonomic stability, and reflex) and examined performance in relationship to DDT/DDE measures in maternal serum samples collected during pregnancy. We did not find any detrimental associations between in utero DDT/DDE levels and neonatal performance on the BNBAS. In this same cohort, we previously demonstrated that exposures to DDT/DDE were related to decrements in neurodevelopment at 6-24 months of age. The failure to observe effects on the BNBAS in these same children may be due to limited sensitivity of a single BNBAS assessment or a delay in the manifestations of neurodevelopmental effects of DDT/DDE until after the neonatal period.
authors.affiliation: California Department of Health Services, Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control, 850 Marina Bay Parkway, Richmond, CA 94804-6403, USA. lfenster@dhs.ca.gov
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fenster
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eskenazi
authors.forename: Meredith
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Asa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bradman
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.forename: Dana B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Barr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003634:DDT / Q000633:toxicity*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene / Q000633:toxicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007306:Insecticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D008126:Lod Score; D017058:Mexican Americans; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D003633:Dichlorodiphenyl Dichloroethylene; D003634:DDT