title: Prenatal exposure to PM₁₀ and NO₂ and children's neurodevelopment from birth to 24 months of age: mothers and Children's Environmental Health (MOCEH) study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Previous studies have suggested adverse effects of maternal exposure to air pollution on neurodevelopment in early childhood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to particulates of less than 10 μm in diameter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and neurodevelopment in children during the first 24 months of their lives.
  
  
  METHODS
  The MOCEH study is a prospective birth cohort study in South Korea. Average exposure levels to PM10 and NO2 during the entire pregnancy were estimated using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method. A total of 520 mother-child pairs who completed neurodevelopmental assessments using the Korean Bayley Scale of Infant Development II (K-BSID-II) more than once at ages of 6, 12 and 24 months were included. Mental developmental index (MDI) and psychomotor developmental index (PDI) from the K-BSID-II were used as outcome variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were negative associations between maternal exposure to PM10 and MDI (β=-2.83; p=0.003) and PDI (β=-3.00; p=0.002) throughout the first 24 months of life as determined by the generalized estimating equation (GEE) model. Maternal NO2 exposure was related with impairment of psychomotor development (β=-1.30; p=0.05) but not with cognitive function (β=-0.84; p=0.20). In a multiple linear regression model, there were significant effects of prenatal air pollution exposure on MDI (PM10: β=-4.60; p<0.001, NO2: β=-3.12; p<0.001) and PDI (PM10: β=-7.24; p<0.001, NO2: β=-3.01; p<0.001) at 6 months, but no significant association was found at 12 and 24 months of age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that exposure to air pollution may result in delayed neurodevelopment in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Ewha Medical Research Center, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Eunjeong
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Ewha Medical Research Center, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyesook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yun-Chul
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Ulsan University Hospital, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Ulsan, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yangho
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Boong-Nyun
authors.initials: BN
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, National Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Seoul National Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yeni
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Institute for Environmental Research, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Man
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Roh
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Bo-Eun
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Environmental Health Research Division, National Institute of Environmental Research, Incheon, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jung-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Ewha Medical Research Center, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Mi
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Ewha Medical Research Center, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, South Korea. Electronic address: eunheeha@ewha.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Eun-Hee
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Ha
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009420:Nervous System / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide
keywords: Cognition; Environmental air pollution; Infant neurodevelopment; Nitrogen dioxide; Particulate matters; Prenatal exposure