Carly V. Goodman , Christine Till , Sietske Berghuis , Joseph M. Braun , Gina Muckle , Aimin Chen , Youssef Oulhote , Bruce Lanphear , Jillian Ashley-Martin , Tye E. Arbuckle
{"title":"Prenatal exposure to phthalates and preschool children’s intellectual scores: Effect modification by child sex","authors":"Carly V. Goodman , Christine Till , Sietske Berghuis , Joseph M. Braun , Gina Muckle , Aimin Chen , Youssef Oulhote , Bruce Lanphear , Jillian Ashley-Martin , Tye E. Arbuckle","doi":"10.1016/j.envint.2025.109701","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Some epidemiological studies suggest that phthalates adversely affect children’s neurodevelopment, but results are inconsistent and often only consider individual chemicals.</div></div><div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>We examined associations between gestational phthalate metabolites and intelligence at ages 3–4 and investigated effect modification by child sex.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>We analyzed data from 511 mother–child pairs enrolled in the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals study. We measured specific gravity-standardized urinary concentrations of 20 phthalate metabolites (from nine parent compounds) in trimesters 1 and 2 and computed the average. We used linear regression models (log2-transformed), adjusting for covariates, to examine single-chemical associations with Full-Scale (FSIQ), Performance (PIQ), and Verbal IQ (VIQ) measured by the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III. We estimated mixture effects using weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Detection frequencies of the metabolites ranged from 42 to 99%. In single-chemical analyses, the sum of di-isodecyl phthalate metabolites (ΣDiDP<sub>m</sub>) was associated with decreased FSIQ (−0.5, 95%CI: −2.1, −0.0) and PIQ (−0.6, 95%CI: −1.2, −0.0). Monomethyl phthalate (MMP) was associated with increased FSIQ (1.7, 95%CI: 0.4, 3.1), PIQ (1.7, 95%CI: 0.2, 3.1) and VIQ; (1.6, 95%CI: 0.3, 2.8). Monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP) was positively associated with PIQ (0.9, 95%CI: 0.0, 1.9). Associations between ΣDiDP<sub>m</sub> and VIQ and MMP and PIQ differed by child sex (negative for boys and positive for girls, respectively). WQS analyses were not statistically significant.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><div>Findings from this pan-Canadian cohort provide some evidence that gestational ΣDiDP<sub>m</sub> is adversely associated with child cognition, with sex-specific vulnerabilities. The positive associations with MMP and MBzP warrant further research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":308,"journal":{"name":"Environment International","volume":"202 ","pages":"Article 109701"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Environment International","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412025004520","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background
Some epidemiological studies suggest that phthalates adversely affect children’s neurodevelopment, but results are inconsistent and often only consider individual chemicals.
Objectives
We examined associations between gestational phthalate metabolites and intelligence at ages 3–4 and investigated effect modification by child sex.
Methods
We analyzed data from 511 mother–child pairs enrolled in the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals study. We measured specific gravity-standardized urinary concentrations of 20 phthalate metabolites (from nine parent compounds) in trimesters 1 and 2 and computed the average. We used linear regression models (log2-transformed), adjusting for covariates, to examine single-chemical associations with Full-Scale (FSIQ), Performance (PIQ), and Verbal IQ (VIQ) measured by the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III. We estimated mixture effects using weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression.
Results
Detection frequencies of the metabolites ranged from 42 to 99%. In single-chemical analyses, the sum of di-isodecyl phthalate metabolites (ΣDiDPm) was associated with decreased FSIQ (−0.5, 95%CI: −2.1, −0.0) and PIQ (−0.6, 95%CI: −1.2, −0.0). Monomethyl phthalate (MMP) was associated with increased FSIQ (1.7, 95%CI: 0.4, 3.1), PIQ (1.7, 95%CI: 0.2, 3.1) and VIQ; (1.6, 95%CI: 0.3, 2.8). Monobenzyl phthalate (MBzP) was positively associated with PIQ (0.9, 95%CI: 0.0, 1.9). Associations between ΣDiDPm and VIQ and MMP and PIQ differed by child sex (negative for boys and positive for girls, respectively). WQS analyses were not statistically significant.
Conclusions
Findings from this pan-Canadian cohort provide some evidence that gestational ΣDiDPm is adversely associated with child cognition, with sex-specific vulnerabilities. The positive associations with MMP and MBzP warrant further research.
期刊介绍:
Environmental Health publishes manuscripts focusing on critical aspects of environmental and occupational medicine, including studies in toxicology and epidemiology, to illuminate the human health implications of exposure to environmental hazards. The journal adopts an open-access model and practices open peer review.
It caters to scientists and practitioners across all environmental science domains, directly or indirectly impacting human health and well-being. With a commitment to enhancing the prevention of environmentally-related health risks, Environmental Health serves as a public health journal for the community and scientists engaged in matters of public health significance concerning the environment.