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Updated: May 27, 2025
Long-term Behavioral and Reproductive Consequences of Embryonic Exposure to Low-dose Toxicants
Published on: March 6, 2018
Early life phthalate exposure impacts gray matter and white matter volume in infants and young children
Insights
Early childhood exposure to phthalates and plasticizers can alter brain structure. Specific chemicals impacted gray and white matter volumes, with sex-specific effects observed, suggesting potential neurodevelopmental consequences.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Environmental Health
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Prenatal phthalate exposure is linked to neurodevelopmental issues.
- Limited data exists on early life exposure impacts on brain anatomy.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate associations between phthalate and plasticizer exposures (2 weeks to 7 years) and brain anatomical attributes.
- Utilize serial structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) for detailed brain analysis.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal neuroimaging study (UNC Baby Connectome Project) with urine sample collection (n=406) for metabolite analysis.
- Calculated average metabolite exposures and used linear mixed models to assess associations with gray matter volume (GMV), white matter volume (WMV), cortical volume (CV), thickness (CT), and surface area (CSA).
- Examined sex-specific differences in exposure-brain associations.
Main Results:
- Higher metabolite concentrations correlated with lower GMV (MCPP) and higher WMV (∑DEHP).
- In boys, MEP and MiBP were linked to lower GMV.
- In girls, higher ∑DINCH exposure was associated with increased WMV.
- Significant sex interactions were found for ∑DEHP with GMV and ∑DINCH with WMV.
Conclusions:
- Early life phthalate and plasticizer exposure may differentially affect brain region volumes in early childhood.
- These structural changes could have downstream consequences on neurodevelopmental outcomes.
Objective:
Prenatal phthalate exposure is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, yet data on impacts of early life exposure remains limited. We investigated phthalate and replacement plasticizer exposures from 2 weeks to 7 years of age in relation to brain anatomical attributes, using serial structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI).
Material And Methods:
Children were enrolled after birth into the UNC Baby Connectome Project, a longitudinal neuroimaging study. Urine samples (n=406) were collected at each visit and analyzed for 17 phthalate and replacement plasticizer metabolites. Among 157 children contributing 369 sMRIs, we calculated metabolite-specific average exposures across each individual's urine samples and used linear mixed models to estimate longitudinal associations of log transformed, specific gravity-adjusted average metabolite concentrations with gray (GMV) and white matter (WMV), and cortical volume (CV), thickness (CT), and surface area (CSA). We examined sex-specific differences in these associations.
Results:
Higher average metabolite concentration was associated with lower GMV (MCPP: (-1.73 cm 3 , 95% CI: -3.36, -0.10) and higher WMV (∑DEHP: 2.28 cm 3 , 95% CI: 0.08, 4.48). Among boys (n=72, 140 sMRIs), MEP (-2.97 cm 3 , 95% CI: -5.85, -0.09) and MiBP (-2.40 cm 3 , 95% CI: -4.64, -0.15) were also associated with lower GMV. Among girls (n=85, 229 MRIs), higher ∑DINCH exposure was associated with higher WMV (2.27 cm 3 , 95% CI: 0.29, 4.25). We observed significant sex interactions for ∑DEHP with GMV (p-interaction=0.03) and ∑DINCH with WMV (p-interaction=0.001).
Conclusion:
Early life phthalate/plasticizer exposure may differentially impact various brain region volumes in early childhood, with potential downstream consequences on functional development.
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