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Assessing the Relation between Plasma PCB Concentrations and Elevated Autistic Behaviours using Bayesian Predictive
Brendan A Bernardo1, Bruce P Lanphear2, Scott A Venners3
1Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada. brendan_bernardo@sfu.ca.
Insights
Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) was not definitively linked to autistic behaviors in children. While some small, imprecise increases in autistic behaviors were observed at higher PCB levels, no clear association was found.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Toxicology
Background:
- Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition impacting social communication and behavior.
- In utero exposure to environmental chemicals, like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), is a potential factor in ASD etiology.
- Understanding environmental influences on neurodevelopment is crucial for public health.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between maternal plasma polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations during pregnancy and autistic behaviors in children.
- To assess the association using both continuous and binary measures of autistic behaviors.
- To contribute to the understanding of environmental chemical impacts on child neurodevelopment.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of plasma PCB concentrations from the first trimester in 546 mother-infant pairs from the MIREC Study.
- Quantification of 6 specific PCB congeners detected in over 40% of samples.
- Caregiver completion of the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS) for children aged 3-4 years to measure autistic behaviors.
Main Results:
- No clear evidence of an association between maternal plasma PCB concentrations and autistic behaviors was found.
- Small, imprecise increases in mean SRS scores and odds of more autistic behaviors were observed for the highest PCB exposure categories.
- For PCB138, the highest exposure category showed an average SRS increase of 1.4 (95%PCI: -0.4, 3.2) and an odds ratio of 1.8 (95%PCI: 1.0, 2.9) for more autistic behaviors.
Conclusions:
- The study found no definitive link between prenatal PCB exposure and autistic behaviors in children.
- Findings highlight the importance of examining associations using both continuous and binary outcome scales.
- Further research is needed to clarify the complex relationship between environmental exposures and neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Abstract:
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by impaired social communication and repetitive or stereotypic behaviours. In utero exposure to environmental chemicals, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), may play a role in the etiology of ASD. We examined the relation between plasma PCB concentrations measured during pregnancy and autistic behaviours in a subset of children aged 3⁻4 years old in the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) Study, a pregnancy and birth cohort of 546 mother-infant pairs from Canada (enrolled: 2008⁻2011). We quantified the concentrations of 6 PCB congeners that were detected in >40% of plasma samples collected during the 1st trimester. At age 3⁻4 years, caregivers completed the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS), a valid and reliable measure of children's reciprocal social and repetitive behaviours and restricted interests. We examined SRS scores as both a continuous and binary outcome, and we calculated Bayesian predictive odds ratios for more autistic behaviours based on a latent variable model for SRS scores >60. We found no evidence of an association between plasma PCB concentrations and autistic behaviour. However, we found small and imprecise increases in the mean SRS score and odds of more autistic behaviour for the highest category of plasma PCB concentrations compared with the lowest category; for instance, an average increase of 1.4 (95%PCI: -0.4, 3.2) in the mean SRS (exposure contrast highest versus lowest PCB category) for PCB138 translated to an odds ratio of 1.8 (95%PCI: 1.0, 2.9). Our findings illustrate the importance of measuring associations between PCBs and autistic behaviour on both continuous and binary scales.
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