title: Prenatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals and infant neurobehavior.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of prenatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) on early infant neurobehavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cohort of 349 mother/infant pairs, we measured maternal serum concentrations during pregnancy of PBDEs, including BDE-47 and other related congeners, as well as 2 common PFCs, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid. When the infants were 5 weeks of age, we measured their neurobehavior by using the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Neither PBDE nor PFC exposures during gestation were associated with the 11 individual NNNS outcomes included in our study; however, when we used latent profile analysis to categorize infants into neurobehavioral profiles based on performance on the NNNS (social/easygoing, high arousal/difficult, or hypotonic), a 10-fold increase in prenatal PFOA concentrations significantly increased the odds of being categorized as hypotonic compared with social/easygoing (aOR 3.79; 95% CI 1.1-12.8).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infants of mothers with greater serum concentrations of PFOA during pregnancy were more likely to be categorized as hypotonic. No association between PBDE concentrations and hypotonia was found. Additional studies should further investigate possible associations of prenatal PFC exposure and muscle tone in infants and children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH. Electronic address: stephanie.donauer@cchmc.org.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Donauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
authors.forename: Aimin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: National Center for Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Antonia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Calafat
authors.affiliation: Division of Laboratory Sciences, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sjodin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH.
authors.forename: Kimberly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yolton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000097:blood / Q000523:psychology*; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D055768:Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers