Effects of prenatal vanadium exposure on neurodevelopment in early childhood and identification of critical window

Abstract

The increased environmental vanadium exposure levels have drawn widespread attention to its health risks. However, the specific impacts of vanadium exposure during pregnancy on child neurodevelopment are unknown. Prenatal vanadium exposure was assessed using 3777 urine samples from 1259 mothers over three stages of pregnancy, and child neurodevelopment at 2 years old was evaluated using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to get mental development index (MDI) and psychomotor development index (PDI) scores. In boys, versus with the first tertile of vanadium, MDI scores decreased by 5.08 points [95 % Confidence Interval (CI): −9.42, −0.74], 4.81 points (95 % CI: −9.52, −0.10) in the second and third tertiles, respectively; and the OR of mental developmental delay (MDD) rose 1.97 times (95 % CI: 1.06, 3.67) in the third tertile. The trimester-specific analysis found that the associations were most pronounced in the third trimester [–5.56 (95 % CI: −9.81, −1.31) and −6.29 (95 % CI: −10.7, −1.89) for MDI; OR = 1.93 (95 % CI: 1.03, 3.60) and OR = 2.50 (95 % CI: 1.34, 4.66) for MDD risk in the second and third tertiles of vanadium, respectively] in boys. Overall, prenatal vanadium exposure may have adverse impacts on child neurodevelopment, particularly among boys, and the third trimester may be a critical window of the effect.