title: Pyrethroid insecticide exposure and cognitive developmental disabilities in children: The PELAGIE mother-child cohort.
abstract: Pyrethroid insecticides are widely used in agriculture and in homes. Despite the neurotoxicity of these insecticides at high doses, few studies have examined whether lower-level exposures could adversely affect children's neurodevelopment. The PELAGIE cohort included 3421 pregnant women from Brittany, France between 2002 and 2006. When their children reached their sixth birthday, 428 mothers from the cohort were randomly selected, successfully contacted and found eligible. A total of 287 (67%) mothers agreed to participate with their children in the neuropsychological follow-up. Two cognitive domains were assessed by the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children: verbal comprehension and working memory. Five pyrethroid and two organophosphate insecticide metabolites were measured in maternal and child first-void urine samples collected between 6 and 19 gestational weeks and at 6years of age, respectively. Linear regression models were used to estimate associations between cognitive scores and urinary pyrethroid metabolite concentrations, adjusting for organophosphate metabolite concentrations and potential confounders. Maternal prenatal pyrethroid metabolite concentrations were not consistently associated with any children's cognitive scores. By contrast, childhood 3-PBA and cis-DBCA concentrations were both negatively associated with verbal comprehension scores (P-trend=0.04 and P-trend<0.01, respectively) and with working memory scores (P-trend=0.05 and P-trend<0.01, respectively). No associations were observed for the three other childhood pyrethroid metabolite concentrations (4-F-3-PBA, cis-DCCA, and trans-DCCA). Low-level childhood exposures to deltamethrin (as cis-DBCA is its principal and selective metabolite), in particular, and to pyrethroid insecticides, in general (as reflected in levels of the 3-PBA metabolite) may negatively affect neurocognitive development by 6years of age. Whatever their etiology, these cognitive deficits may be of importance educationally, because cognitive impairments in children interfere with learning and social development. Potential causes that can be prevented are of paramount public health importance.
authors.affiliation: INSERM-IRSET n° 1085, Epidemiological Research on Environment, Reproduction and Development, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France; Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University Hospital, Rennes, France. Electronic address: jean-francois.viel@univ-rennes1.fr.
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Viel
authors.affiliation: INSERM-IRSET n° 1085, Epidemiological Research on Environment, Reproduction and Development, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Charline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Warembourg
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Psychology, Cognition and Communication, University of Rennes 2, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Gaïd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Le Maner-Idrissi
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Psychology, Cognition and Communication, University of Rennes 2, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Agnès
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lacroix
authors.affiliation: LABOCEA Laboratory, Plouzané, France.
authors.forename: Gwendolina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Limon
authors.affiliation: INSERM-IRSET n° 1085, Epidemiological Research on Environment, Reproduction and Development, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France; Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rouget
authors.affiliation: INSERM-IRSET n° 1085, Epidemiological Research on Environment, Reproduction and Development, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Monfort
authors.affiliation: LABOCEA Laboratory, Plouzané, France.
authors.forename: Gaël
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Durand
authors.affiliation: INSERM-IRSET n° 1085, Epidemiological Research on Environment, Reproduction and Development, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Sylvaine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cordier
authors.affiliation: INSERM-IRSET n° 1085, Epidemiological Research on Environment, Reproduction and Development, University of Rennes 1, Rennes, France.
authors.forename: Cécile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chevrier
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000383:Agriculture; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000139:chemically induced*; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D006801:Humans; D007306:Insecticides / Q000652:urine*; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D016014:Linear Models; D009035:Mothers; D009570:Nitriles; D010755:Organophosphates / Q000652:urine*; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D011247:Pregnancy; D011722:Pyrethrins
chemical_list: D007306:Insecticides; D009570:Nitriles; D010755:Organophosphates; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D011722:Pyrethrins; C017180:decamethrin
keywords: Cognitive abilities; Neurodevelopment; Pyrethroid pesticides