Early postnatal and concurrent exposure to metals and neurobehavioral outcomes at 5 years: Associations with individual environmental exposures and mixtures

Background

Little is known about the effect of postnatal exposure to heavy metals on children’s behavior problems. This study aimed to investigate the association between metal exposure during different stages of postnatal life and neurobehavioral outcomes in preschool children.

Methods

Urinary concentrations of six metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese, and vanadium) were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry in 220 participants at two time points: before 1 year and at 5 years of age. Mothers completed the Child Behavior Checklist when the children were 5 years old. Multivariable linear and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between metal concentrations and behavioral outcomes. We employed Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) to assess possible joint effects and potential interactions between metal mixtures and behavioral outcomes.

Results

Concentrations of urinary arsenic (As) in infants were associated with higher scores for anxious/shy behavior problems (β ranging from 0.03 to 0.23). Further analyses showed that As exposure increased the odds of scores falling into the borderline or clinical range on anxious/depressed, affective, and pervasive developmental problems (ORs: 2.45–3.40). Stratification by sex indicated significance in girls but not in boys. BKMR analysis showed that, among the metal mixtures, As displayed a major effect on behavior scores. Concentrations of urinary cadmium in infants were also associated with higher behavioral scores but did not increase the risk of clinical problems. A cross-sectional survey in 5-year-olds did not show a significant association between concurrent metal exposure and behavioral outcome.

Conclusion

Our results showed that exposure to As and Cd during infancy was associated with emotional problems in children. The effect of arsenic exposure was more pronounced among female infants. We suggest reducing exposure to toxic metals during early postnatal life to prevent behavioral problems in children."