title: In utero and childhood polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposures and neurodevelopment in the CHAMACOS study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  California children's exposures to polybrominated diphenyl ether flame retardants (PBDEs) are among the highest worldwide. PBDEs are known endocrine disruptors and neurotoxicants in animals.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Here we investigate the relation of in utero and child PBDE exposure to neurobehavioral development among participants in CHAMACOS (Center for the Health Assessment of Mothers and Children of Salinas), a California birth cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured PBDEs in maternal prenatal and child serum samples and examined the association of PBDE concentrations with children's attention, motor functioning, and cognition at 5 (n = 310) and 7 years of age (n = 323).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Maternal prenatal PBDE concentrations were associated with impaired attention as measured by a continuous performance task at 5 years and maternal report at 5 and 7 years of age, with poorer fine motor coordination-particularly in the nondominant-at both age points, and with decrements in Verbal and Full-Scale IQ at 7 years. PBDE concentrations in children 7 years of age were significantly or marginally associated with concurrent teacher reports of attention problems and decrements in Processing Speed, Perceptual Reasoning, Verbal Comprehension, and Full-Scale IQ. These associations were not altered by adjustment for birth weight, gestational age, or maternal thyroid hormone levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both prenatal and childhood PBDE exposures were associated with poorer attention, fine motor coordination, and cognition in the CHAMACOS cohort of school-age children. This study, the largest to date, contributes to growing evidence suggesting that PBDEs have adverse impacts on child neurobehavioral development.
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Research and Children's Health, School of Public Health, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA. eskenazi@berkeley.edu
authors.forename: Brenda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eskenazi
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chevrier
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rauch
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kogut
authors.forename: Kim G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Harley
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Celina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Trujillo
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjödin
authors.forename: Asa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bradman
mesh_terms: D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers; C086401:pentabromodiphenyl ether