Prenatal exposure to outdoor air pollution and child behavioral problems at school age in Japan.

Introduction: Recent studies suggest positive associations between prenatal exposure to ambient air pollution and neurodevelopment of children, but evidence on the adverse effects of exposure to air pollution on child neurobehavioral development remains limited. We thus examined associations between prenatal exposure to outdoor air pollution and child behavioral problems at school age, using data from a nationwide population-based longitudinal survey in Japan, where participants were recruited in 2001 and are continuously followed.

Methods: Suspended particulate matter (SPM), nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide concentrations during the 9months before birth were obtained at municipality level and assigned to those participants born in the corresponding municipality.

Preterm birth and behavioural outcomes at 8 years of age: a nationwide survey in Japan.

Objective: To analyse the effect of different preterm birth categories on behavioural outcomes.

Design: Prospective cohort design.

Settings: The Japanese Longitudinal Survey of Babies in the 21st Century was used for the study.

Neurological and neurocognitive functions from intrauterine methylmercury exposure.

In the 1950s, large-scale food poisoning caused by methylmercury was identified in Minamata, Japan. Although severe intrauterine exposure cases (ie, congenital Minamata disease patients) are well known, possible impacts of methylmercury exposure in utero among residents, which is likely at lower levels than in congenital Minamata disease patients, are rarely explored. In 2014, the authors examined neurological and neurocognitive functions among 18 exposed participants in Minamata, focusing on fine motor, visuospatial construction, and executive functions.

Prenatal Exposure to Traffic-related Air Pollution and Child Behavioral Development Milestone Delays in Japan.

Background: Recent studies suggest that prenatal exposure to outdoor air pollution is associated with unfavorable neurodevelopment in children. We examined associations between prenatal exposure to traffic-related air pollution and child behavioral development milestone delays, using data from a nationwide population-based longitudinal survey in Japan, where the participants were recruited in 2001 and followed.

Methods: Particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide concentrations during the 9 months before birth were obtained at the municipality level and assigned to the participants who were born in the corresponding municipality.