Perinatal exposure to chlordecone, thyroid hormone status and neurodevelopment in infants: the Timoun cohort study in Guadeloupe (French West Indies).
BACKGROUND
Perinatal exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals may affect thyroid hormones homeostasis and impair brain development. Chlordecone, an organochlorine insecticide widely used in the French West Indies has known estrogenic and progestin properties, but no data is available, human or animal, on its action on thyroid hormone system.


OBJECTIVE
Our aim was to evaluate the impact of perinatal exposure to chlordecone on the thyroid hormone system of a sample of infants from the Timoun mother-child cohort in Guadeloupe and their further neurodevelopment.


METHODS
Chlordecone was measured in cord blood and breast milk samples. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free tri-iodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4) were determined in child blood at 3 months (n=111). Toddlers were further assessed at 18 months using an adapted version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ).


RESULTS
Cord chlordecone was associated with an increase in TSH in boys, whereas postnatal exposure was associated with a decrease in FT3 overall, and in FT4 among girls. Higher TSH level at 3 months was positively associated with the ASQ score of fine motor development at 18 months among boys, but TSH did not modify the association between prenatal chlordecone exposure and poorer ASQ fine motor score.


CONCLUSIONS
Perinatal exposure to chlordecone may affect TSH and thyroid hormone levels at 3 months, differently according to the sex of the infant. This disruption however did not appear to intervene in the pathway between prenatal chlordecone exposure and fine motor child development.
Inserm, U1085-IRSET, F-35000 Rennes, France; University of Rennes I, F-35000 Rennes, France. Electronic address: sylvaine.cordier@inserm.fr.
Sylvaine
S
Cordier
Inserm, U1085-IRSET, F-35000 Rennes, France; University of Rennes I, F-35000 Rennes, France.
Emilie
E
Bouquet
Inserm, U1085-IRSET, F-35000 Rennes, France; University of Rennes I, F-35000 Rennes, France.
Charline
C
Warembourg
Laboratory of Hormonology, CIC-P INSERM 1414, CHU Rennes, F-35000 Rennes, France.
Catherine
C
Massart
Inserm, U1085-IRSET, F-35000 Rennes, France; University of Rennes I, F-35000 Rennes, France; Département de Pédiatrie, CHU Rennes, F-35000 Rennes, France.
Florence
F
Rouget
Inserm, U1085-IRSET, F-35000 Rennes, France; University of Rennes I, F-35000 Rennes, France; Pôle Parent-Enfant, Service de Gynécologie-Obstétrique, CHU Pointe-à-Pitre, BP 465, 97159 Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.
Philippe
P
Kadhel
Centre d'Action Medico-Social, CHU Martinique, F-97292 Le Lamentin, Martinique.
Henri
H
Bataille
Inserm, U1085-IRSET, F-35000 Rennes, France; University of Rennes I, F-35000 Rennes, France.
Christine
C
Monfort
Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), Édifice Delta 2, Bureau 600, 2875, boulevard Laurier, 6e étage, Québec, Que., Canada G1V 2M2.
Olivier
O
Boucher
Centre de recherche du Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Québec (CHUQ), Édifice Delta 2, Bureau 600, 2875, boulevard Laurier, 6e étage, Québec, Que., Canada G1V 2M2; Université Laval, 2325, rue de l'Université, Québec, Que., Canada G1V 0A6.
Gina
G
Muckle
Inserm, U1085-IRSET, F-35000 Rennes, France; University of Rennes I, F-35000 Rennes, France.
Luc
L
Multigner
D000328:Adult; D002657:Child Development; D007631:Chlordecone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D019430:Guadeloupe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007306:Insecticides / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007306:Insecticides; D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D007631:Chlordecone
Breast Feeding; Children; Chlordecone; Prenatal; Thyroid Hormone