Prenatal Insecticide Exposures and Birth Weight and Length among an Urban Minority Cohort

We reported previously that insecticide exposures were widespread among minority women in New York City during pregnancy and that levels of the organophosphate chlorpyrifos in umbilical cord plasma were inversely associated with birth weight and length. Here we expand analyses to include additional insecticides (the organophosphate diazinon and the carbamate propoxur), a larger sample size (n = 314 mother–newborn pairs), and insecticide measurements in maternal personal air during pregnancy as well as in umbilical cord plasma at delivery. Controlling for potential confounders, we found no association between maternal personal air insecticide levels and birth weight, length, or head circumference. For each log unit increase in cord plasma chlorpyrifos levels, birth weight decreased by 42.6 g [95% confidence interval (CI), −81.8 to −3.8, p = 0.03] and birth length decreased by 0.24 cm (95% CI, −0.47 to −0.01, p = 0.04). Combined measures of (ln)cord plasma chlorpyrifos and diazinon (adjusted for relative potency) were also inversely associated with birth weight and length (p < 0.05). Birth weight averaged 186.3 g less (95% CI, −375.2 to −45.5) among newborns with the highest compared with lowest 26% of exposure levels (p = 0.01). Further, the associations between birth weight and length and cord plasma chlorpyrifos and diazinon were highly significant (p ≤ 0.007) among newborns born before the 2000–2001 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory actions to phase out residential use of these insecticides. Among newborns born after January 2001, exposure levels were substantially lower, and no association with fetal growth was apparent (p > 0.8). The propoxur metabolite 2-isopropoxyphenol in cord plasma was inversely associated with birth length, a finding of borderline significance (p = 0.05) after controlling for chlorpyrifos and diazinon. Results indicate that prenatal chlorpyrifos exposures have impaired fetal growth among this minority cohort and that diazinon exposures may have contributed to the effects. Findings support recent regulatory action to phase out residential uses of the insecticides

Within- and Between-Home Variability in Indoor-Air Insecticide Levels during Pregnancy among an Inner-City Cohort from New York City

BACKGROUND: Residential insecticide use is widespread in the United States, but few data are available on the persistence and variability in levels in the indoor environment. OBJECTIVE: The study aim was to assess within- and between-home variability in indoor-air insecticides over the final 2 months of pregnancy among a cohort of African-American and Dominican women from New York City. METHODS: Women not employed outside the home were enrolled between February 2001 and May 2004 (n = 102); 9 insecticides and an adjuvant were measured in 48-hr personal air samples and 2-week integrated indoor air samples collected sequentially for 7.0 ± 2.3 weeks (n = 337 air samples). RESULTS: Sixty-one percent of the women reported using pest control during the air samplings. Chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and propoxur were detected in 99–100% of personal and indoor samples (range, 0.4–641 ng/m(3)). Piperonyl butoxide (a pyrethroid adjuvant) was detected in 45.5–68.5% (0.2–608 ng/m(3)). There was little within-home variability and no significant difference in air concentrations within homes over time (p ≥ 0.2); between-home variability accounted for 88% of the variance in the indoor air levels of propoxur, 92% in chlorpyrifos, 94% in diazinon, and 62% in piperonyl butoxide (p < 0.001). Indoor and maternal personal air insecticide levels were highly correlated (r = 0.7–0.9, p < 0.001). Diazinon and chlorpyrifos levels declined 5-fold between 2001 and 2004 but were detected in all homes 1.5 and 2.5 years, respectively, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ban on their residential use. CONCLUSION: Results showed that the insecticides were persistent in the home with little variability in air concentrations over the 2 months and contributed to chronic maternal inhalation exposures during pregnancy

Ambient Metals, Elemental Carbon, and Wheeze and Cough in New York City Children through 24 Months of Age

Rationale: The effects of exposure to specific components of ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5), including metals and elemental carbon (EC), have not been fully characterized in young children. Objectives: To compare temporal associations among PM2.5; individual metal constituents of ambient PM2.5, including nickel (Ni), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn); and EC and longitudinal reports of respiratory symptoms through 24 months of age. Methods: Study participants were selected from the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health birth cohort recruited in New York City between 1998 and 2006. Respiratory symptom data were collected by questionnaire every 3 months through 24 months of age. Ambient pollutant data were obtained from state-operated stationary monitoring sites located within the study area. For each subject, 3-month average inverse-distance weighted concentrations of Ni, V, Zn, EC, and PM2.5 were calculated for each symptom-reporting period based on the questionnaire date and the preceding 3 months. Associations between pollutants and symptoms were characterized using generalized additive mixed effects models, adjusting for sex, ethnicity, environmental tobacco smoke exposure, and calendar time. Measurements and Main Results: Increases in ambient Ni and V concentrations were associated significantly with increased probability of wheeze. Increases in EC were associated significantly with cough during the cold/flu season. Total PM2.5 was not associated with wheeze or cough. Conclusions: These results suggest that exposure to ambient metals and EC from heating oil and/or traffic at levels characteristic of urban environments may be associated with respiratory symptoms among very young children

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolite levels and pediatric allergy and asthma in an inner-city cohort.

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) has been associated with allergic sensitization and asthma. We hypothesized that increased urinary PAH metabolites are associated with allergy or asthma among children age 5 yrs in an inner-city birth cohort. As part of an ongoing prospective birth cohort under the auspices of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH), urine was collected from 5-yr-old children (n = 222) of Dominican American and African American mothers in Northern Manhattan and South Bronx of New York City. Twenty-four PAH metabolites were measured in these specimens, and their levels (unadjusted and specific gravity corrected) were evaluated with IgE levels and asthma outcomes. Ten metabolites were detected in urine from all children. Concentrations ranged higher than those in representative samples of US children ages 6-11 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Among CCCEH children, compared with African Americans, the Dominican children had higher 2-hydroxynaphthalene but lower 9-hydroxyfluorene and 4-hydroxyphenanthrene concentrations. Increased 3-hydroxyfluorene and 3-hydroxyphenanthrene levels were associated with higher anti-mouse IgE levels (p < 0.05). These plus 2-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydroxyflourene and 1-hydroxyphenanthrene concentrations were associated with higher anti-mouse IgE levels on multivariate analyzes. Increased 2-hydroxyphenanthrene, 3-hydroxyphenanthrene and 4-hydroxyphenanthrene levels were associated with higher anti-cat IgE levels (p < 0.05) in univariate, but not multivariate, analyzes. Levels of PAH metabolites were not associated with respiratory symptoms. Measures of PAH metabolites suggest considerable exposure in an urban pediatric population, and possible associations with allergic sensitization to mouse.AMSUNY DownstateEnvironmental and Occupational Health SciencesN/

Chlorpyrifos exposure and urban residential environment characteristics as determinants of early childhood neurodevelopment.

Objectives: We evaluated whether neighborhood characteristics correlated with early neurodevelopment and whether these characteristics confounded the previously reported association between exposure to chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate insecticide) and neurodevelopment. Methods: We obtained prenatal addresses, chlorpyrifos exposure data, and 36-month Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) and Mental Development Index (MDI) scores for a birth cohort in New York City (born 1998-2002). We used data from the 2000 US Census to estimate measures of physical infrastructure, socioeconomic status, crowding, demographic composition, and linguistic isolation for 1-kilometer network areas around each child's prenatal address. Generalized estimating equations were adjusted for demographics, maternal education and IQ, prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke, caretaking environment quality, and building dilapidation. Results: Of 266 children included as participants, 47% were male, 59% were Dominican, and 41% were African American. For each standard deviation higher in neighborhood percent poverty, the PDI score was 2.6 points lower (95% confidence interval [CI] = -3.7, -1.5), and the MDI score was 1.7 points lower (95% CI = -2.6, -0.8). Neighborhood-level confounding of the chlorpyrifos-neurodevelopment association was not apparent. Conclusions: Neighborhood context and chlorpyrifos exposure were independently associated with neurodevelopment, thus providing distinct opportunities for health promotion.VoRSUNY DownstateEnvironmental and Occupational Health SciencesN/

Impact of prenatal chlorpyrifos exposure on neurodevelopment in the first 3 years of life among inner-city children.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos on 3-year neurodevelopment and behavior in a sample of inner-city minority children. Methods: As part of an ongoing prospective cohort study in an inner-city minority population, neurotoxicant effects of prenatal exposure to chlorpyrifos were evaluated in 254 children through the first 3 years of life. This report examined cognitive and motor development at 12, 24, and 36 months (measured with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II) and child behavior at 36 months (measured with the Child Behavior Checklist) as a function of chlorpyrifos levels in umbilical cord plasma. Results: Highly exposed children (chlorpyrifos levels of >6.17 pg/g plasma) scored, on average, 6.5 points lower on the Bayley Psychomotor Development Index and 3.3 points lower on the Bayley Mental Development Index at 3 years of age compared with those with lower levels of exposure. Children exposed to higher, compared with lower, chlorpyrifos levels were also significantly more likely to experience Psychomotor Development Index and Mental Development Index delays, attention problems, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder problems, and pervasive developmental disorder problems at 3 years of age. Conclusions: The adjusted mean 36-month Psychomotor Development Index and Mental Development Index scores of the highly and lower exposed groups differed by only 7.1 and 3.0 points, respectively, but the proportion of delayed children in the high-exposure group, compared with the low-exposure group, was 5 times greater for the Psychomotor Development Index and 2.4 times greater for the Mental Development Index, increasing the number of children possibly needing early intervention services.AMSUNY DownstateEnvironmental and Occupational Health SciencesN/