title: Prenatal phthalate exposures and neurobehavioral development scores in boys and girls at 6-10 years of age.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is concern over potential neurobehavioral effects of prenatal phthalate exposures, but available data are inconsistent.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We examined associations between prenatal urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and neurobehavioral scores among children.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured phthalate metabolite concentrations in urine samples from 153 pregnant participants in the Study for Future Families, a multicenter cohort study. Mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist when the children were 6-10 years of age. We estimated overall and sex-specific associations between phthalate concentrations and behavior using adjusted multiple regression interaction models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In boys, concentrations of monoisobutyl phthalate were associated with higher scores for inattention (β = 0.27; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.50), rule-breaking behavior (β = 0.20; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.38), aggression (β = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.59), and conduct problems (β = 0.39; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.58), whereas the molar sum of di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites was associated with higher scores for somatic problems (β = 0.15; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.28). Higher monobenzyl phthalate concentrations were associated with higher scores for oppositional behavior (β = 0.16; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.32) and conduct problems (β = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.37) in boys, but with reduced anxiety scores in girls (β = -0.20; 95% CI: -0.39, -0.01). In general, the associations reported above were close to the null among girls. Model coefficients represent the difference in the square root-transformed outcome score associated with a 1-unit increase in log-transformed metabolites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest associations between exposure to certain phthalates in late pregnancy and behavioral problems in boys. Given the few studies on this topic and methodological and population differences among studies, additional research is warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Roni W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Kobrosly
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Amir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miodovnik
authors.forename: Emily S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.forename: Sally W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Thurston
authors.forename: Antonia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Calafat
authors.forename: Shanna H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Swan
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010795:Phthalic Acids / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
chemical_list: D010795:Phthalic Acids; C032279:phthalic acid