title: Environmental exposure to manganese and motor function of children in Mexico.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Occupational manganese (Mn) exposure has been associated with motor deficits in adult workers, but data on the potential effects of environmental exposure to Mn on the developing motor function for a children population is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between exposure to Mn and motor function of school aged children.
  
  
  METHODS
  We conducted a cross-sectional study selecting 195 children (100 exposed and 95 unexposed) between 7 and 11 years old. The following tests were used to evaluate the motor function: Grooved pegboard, finger tapping, and Santa Ana test. Mn exposure was assessed by blood (MnB) and hair concentrations (MnH). We constructed linear regression models to evaluate the association between exposure to Mn and the different test scores adjusting for age, sex, maternal education, hemoglobin and blood lead.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median concentration of MnH and MnB was significantly higher in exposed (12.6 μg/g and 9.5 μg/L) compared to unexposed children (0.6 μg/g and 8.0 μg/L). The exposed children on average performed the grooved pegboard test faster, but made more errors, although these results did not reach statistical significance with neither one of the Mn exposure biomarkers. MnB showed an inverse association on the execution of the finger tapping test (average in 5 trials β -0.4, p=0.02), but no association was observed with MnH.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A subtle negative association of Mn exposure on motor speed and coordination was shown. In adults, the main effect of environmental Mn exposure has been associated with motor skills, but these results suggest that such alterations are not the main effect on children.
authors.affiliation: Dirección de Salud Ambiental, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hernández-Bonilla
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schilmann
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montes
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Agudelo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Dozal
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Solís-Vivanco
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ríos
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Riojas-Rodríguez
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020149:Manganese Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*