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Early life bisphenol A exposure and neurobehavior at 8years of age: Identifying windows of heightened vulnerability
Shaina L Stacy1, George D Papandonatos2, Antonia M Calafat3
1Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States.
Insights
Early life exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) may impact neurobehavior, with effects differing by child sex and timing of exposure. Prenatal BPA linked to girls' externalizing behaviors, while later exposure affected boys.
Area of Science:
- Environmental health
- Developmental toxicology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Early life exposure to Bisphenol A (BPA) is a concern for neurobehavioral development.
- Vulnerability windows for BPA's effects on children are not well-established.
- This study investigates critical developmental periods for BPA's impact on neurobehavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore critical windows of vulnerability to BPA exposure in relation to child neurobehavior.
- To examine how the timing of BPA exposure influences neurodevelopmental outcomes.
- To assess sex-specific effects of BPA exposure on behavior.
Main Methods:
- A multiethnic cohort of 228 mother-child pairs was studied.
- Urinary BPA levels were measured across multiple prenatal and postnatal time points up to age 8.
- Neurobehavioral assessments included BASC-2, BRIEF, and WISC-IV at age 8.
Main Results:
- Overall, BPA-neurobehavior associations did not strongly vary by exposure timing.
- Child sex significantly modified BPA's association with neurobehavioral outcomes.
- Prenatal BPA exposure was linked to increased externalizing behaviors in girls, while 8-year BPA exposure was linked to increased externalizing behaviors in boys.
Conclusions:
- Sex-dependent associations between BPA exposure and child neurobehavior are influenced by the timing of exposure.
- These findings highlight critical windows for BPA's neurodevelopmental effects, particularly concerning sex differences.
- Understanding these sex-specific, timing-dependent effects is crucial for risk assessment and intervention.
Background:
Early life BPA exposure could affect neurobehavior, but few studies have investigated whether there are developmental periods when the fetus or child is more vulnerable to these potential effects.
Objectives:
We explored windows of vulnerability to BPA exposure in a multiethnic cohort of 228 mothers and their children from Cincinnati, Ohio.
Methods:
We measured urinary BPA concentrations at up to two prenatal and six postnatal time points from the 2nd trimester of pregnancy until the child was age 8years. At age 8years, we administered the Behavioral Assessment System for Children-2 (BASC-2), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV. We estimated covariate-adjusted differences in composite scores from each instrument using a multiple informant model designed to identify heightened windows of vulnerability.
Results:
Among all children, there was not strong evidence that the associations between BPA and neurobehavior varied by the timing of exposure (Visit x BPA p-values≥0.16). However, child sex modified the associations of repeated BPA measures with BASC-2 scores (Visit x Sex x BPA p-values=0.02-0.23). For example, each 10-fold increase in prenatal BPA was associated with more externalizing behaviors in girls (β=6.2, 95% CI: 0.8, 11.6), but not boys (β=-0.8, 95% CI: -5.0, 3.4). In contrast, a 10-fold increase in 8-year BPA was associated with more externalizing behaviors in boys (β=3.9, 95% CI: 0.6, 7.2), but not girls (β=0.3, 95% CI: -3.5, 4.1).
Conclusions:
We found that sex-dependent associations between BPA and child neurobehavior may depend on the timing of BPA exposure.
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