title: Occupational pesticide exposure in early pregnancy associated with sex-specific neurobehavioral deficits in the children at school age.
abstract: Prenatal exposure to pesticides may affect neurodevelopment, while the impact of modern pesticides is unclear. From 1997-2001, women working in greenhouse horticultures were recruited at the beginning of their pregnancy. Based on detailed interview of the women and their employers, those categorized as occupationally exposed to pesticides were moved to unexposed work functions or went on paid leave, while women without any exposure were considered unexposed controls. Of the resulting birth cohort of 203 children, 133 (65%) were examined at age 6 to 11 years together with 44 newly recruited children of same age whose mothers were not occupationally exposed to pesticides in pregnancy. All children underwent a standardized examination including a battery of neurodevelopmental tests. Maternal occupational pesticide exposure in early pregnancy was associated with prolonged brainstem auditory evoked potential latencies in the children as a whole and with impaired neuropsychological function in girls, while no effect was apparent in boys. In girls, language and motor speed functions were significantly inversely associated with prenatal exposure, and a non-significant tendency toward decreased function was also seen for other neuropsychological outcomes. A structural equation model that combined all these test results showed an overall impaired neuropsychological function in girls prenatally exposed to pesticides. Thus, our findings suggest an adverse effect of maternal occupational pesticide exposure on their children's neurodevelopment, despite the fact that the exposures occurred solely during early pregnancy and under well regulated working conditions, where special measures to protect pregnant women were applied.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. Electronic address: hrandersen@health.sdu.dk.
authors.forename: Helle R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Fróði
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Debes
authors.affiliation: University Department of Growth and Reproduction, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wohlfahrt-Veje
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Akita, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murata
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grandjean
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D009043:Motor Activity; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010575:Pesticides / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides
keywords: Brainstem auditory evoked potentials; Neurodevelopment; Neuropsychological tests; Pesticides; Prenatal exposure