title: Prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure and child behavior at age 6-7 years.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are widespread urban air pollutants from fossil fuel burning and other combustion sources. We previously reported that a broad spectrum of combustion-related DNA adducts in cord blood was associated with attention problems at 6-7 years of age in the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) longitudinal cohort study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We evaluated the relationship between behavioral problems and two different measures of prenatal exposure--both specific to PAH--in the same cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children of nonsmoking African-American and Dominican women in New York City (NYC) were followed from in utero to 6-7 years. Prenatal PAH exposure was estimated by personal air monitoring of the mothers during pregnancy as well as by the measurement of DNA adducts specific to benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), a representative PAH, in maternal and cord blood. At 6-7 years of age, child behavior was assessed using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (n = 253). Generalized linear models were used to test the association between prenatal PAH exposure and behavioral outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In multivariate analyses, high prenatal PAH exposure, whether characterized by personal air monitoring (greater than the median of 2.27 ng/m³) or maternal and cord adducts (detectable or higher), was positively associated with symptoms of Anxious/Depressed and Attention Problems (p ≤ 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results provide additional evidence that environmental levels of PAH encountered in NYC air can adversely affect child behavior.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA. fpp1@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Frederica P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Perera
authors.forename: Deliang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vishnevetsky
authors.forename: Bingzhi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Diurka
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Diaz
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camann
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rauh
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D004293:Dominican Republic / Q000208:ethnology; D005260:Female; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009519:New York City / Q000453:epidemiology; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000097:blood / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D015415:Biomarkers; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons