Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol
September 2017
Background: Air pollution exposure in childhood is associated with greater incidence and exacerbation of asthma, particularly in children whose parents report high levels of psychological stress. However, this interaction has not been completely elucidated in pregnancy.
Objective: To examine whether the association between prenatal exposure to particulate matter no larger than 2.
Background: Neurodevelopment is a complex process involving both genetic and environmental factors. Prenatal exposure to lead (Pb) has been associated with lower performance on neurodevelopmental tests. Adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes are more frequent and/or more severe when toxic exposures interact with genetic susceptibility.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Normal prenatal neurodevelopment follows stages that are potentially influenced by both chemical and psychosocial environments. Exposure to elevated manganese during this critically vulnerable period has been found to be neurotoxic. Independently, maternal prenatal depression has been associated with subsequent neurodevelopmental decrements in children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Phthalates and BPA are endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) widely used in consumer products. Evidence suggests that phthalate and BPA exposure alters steroid hormone levels in adults, while in utero exposure has been associated with altered fetal reproductive development in boys. However, the impact of exposure during distinct critical windows of in utero development on hormone concentrations and sexual maturation during the pubertal transition has not been examined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFManganese (Mn) is an essential trace metal that is neurotoxic at high levels of exposure. Disruption of brain maturation processes during the prenatal period may have lasting consequences. During this critical period, the developing human brain is uniquely vulnerable to exposure to environmental toxicants such as Mn, and prenatal Mn exposure has been associated with changes in brain areas involved in emotion processing and regulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To compare self-report and physician assessments of sexual maturation against serum hormone markers to evaluate the hypothesis that the validity of self-assessed sexual maturation is underestimated in traditional validation studies.
Study Design: We adapted a self-assessment instrument that 248 Mexican children and adolescents, aged 8-13 years, completed. The participants were examined by a trained pediatrician and provided fasting blood samples for measurement of reproductive hormones (eg, testosterone, estradiol, sex hormone-binding globulin, inhibin B) and other hormones (eg, C-peptide, insulin-like growth factor 1, leptin, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate) known to change during adolescence.
Objective: To assess the relationship between in utero and concurrent child urinary exposures to bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates with BMI z-score, waist circumference, and sum of triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness in Mexican children.
Methods: Among participants (N=249) from the Early Life Exposure in Mexico to ENvironmental Toxicants study, we evaluated associations between maternal third trimester and concurrent urinary BPA and individual and summed phthalates metabolites (∑Di(2-ethylhexyl phthalate), ∑high molecular weight, ∑low molecular weight) with measures of weight status and adiposity in children aged 8-14 years. Linear regressions with specific-gravity corrected and natural log-transformed urinary concentrations were estimated, adjusting for covariates.
Animal models indicate that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) affect circulating lipid concentrations by interfering with hepatic fatty acid oxidation. Little is known of the relationship between EDC exposure and lipid profile in humans. We measured bisphenol A (BPA) and 9 phthalate metabolites in maternal urine collected at up to three time points during pregnancy as a measure of in utero exposure, and in the child's urine at 8-14 years as a measure of concurrent, peripubertal exposure among 248 participants of a Mexico City pre-birth cohort.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To characterize antinuclear antibody (ANA) prevalence according to distinct assay methodologies in a pediatric cohort from Mexico City, and to further examine associations with age and sex.
Methods: Serum ANA were measured by indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) and multiplex immunoassay in 114 children aged 9-17 years. IFA was considered positive at a cutoff titer of ≥1:80.
Background: As population lead levels decrease, the toxic effects of lead may be distributed to more sensitive populations, such as infants with poor fetal growth.
Objectives: To determine the association of prenatal lead exposure and fetal growth; and to evaluate whether infants with poor fetal growth are more susceptible to lead toxicity than those with normal fetal growth.
Methods: We examined the association of second trimester maternal blood lead levels (BLL) with birthweight-for-gestational age (BWGA) z-score in 944 mother-infant participants of the PROGRESS cohort.
Introduction: Changes in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can serve as a marker of cumulative oxidative stress (OS) due to the mitochondria's unique genome and relative lack of repair systems. In utero particulate matter ≤2.5μm (PM) exposure can enhance oxidative stress.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLead exposure during pregnancy remains a public health problem with potential lifelong impacts on children's growth and development. Mexico is unique in that stunting and obesity are both major public health concerns in children. This situation might be exacerbated by lead exposure which remains more common in Mexico than in the United States due in part to the use of lead glazed pottery in food preparation and storage.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Child and maternal health outcomes have notably improved in Mexico since 1990, whereas rising adult mortality rates defy traditional epidemiological transition models in which decreased death rates occur across all ages. These trends suggest Mexico is experiencing a more complex, dissonant health transition than historically observed. Enduring inequalities between states further emphasise the need for more detailed health assessments over time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cadmium is a toxic metal with modifiable exposure sources including diet. In pregnant women and children, unique dietary habits may contribute to DCd, and the relationship of diet to overall cadmium exposure can depend on specific factors during these transitional time periods.
Objectives: This study aimed to identify and quantify food sources of DCd, describe the distribution of UCd, and determine the relationship of DCd and intake of specific foods with UCd, stratified by maternal smoking history, among pregnant women and children in a well-characterized Mexico City birth cohort.
Epigenetic perturbations induced by environmental exposures at susceptible lifestages contribute to disease development. Even so, the influence of early life and ongoing exposures on the adolescent epigenome is rarely examined. We examined the association of exposure biomarkers for lead (Pb), bisphenol A (BPA), and nine phthalates metabolites with blood leukocyte DNA methylation at LINE-1 repetitive elements and environmentally responsive genes ( , , and ) in peri-adolescents.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is need to assess the developmental neurotoxicity of fluoride. Our knowledge of prenatal fluoride exposure is challenged as few population-based studies have been conducted and these generally date back several decades, provide incomplete data on sociodemographic variables, and have methodological limitations.
Objective: To measure urinary and plasma fluoride levels across three time points in pregnant mothers who were enrolled in the Early Life Exposures in Mexico to Environmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) birth cohort study.
Background: Temperament is a psychological construct that reflects both personality and an infant's reaction to social stimuli. It can be assessed early in life and is stable over time Temperament predicts many later life behaviors and illnesses, including impulsivity, emotional regulation and obesity. Early life exposure to neurotoxicants often results in developmental deficits in attention, social function, and IQ, but environmental predictors of infant temperament are largely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction Estrogen inhibits lactation and bisphenol A (BPA) is a high production environmental estrogen. We hypothesize an inhibitory effect of BPA on lactation and aim to analyze the association between third trimester pregnancy urinary BPA and breastfeeding rates 1 month postpartum. Methods Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) of breastfeeding and perceived insufficient milk supply (PIM) in relation to maternal peripartum urinary BPA concentrations were calculated in 216 mothers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recent studies have shown that lead exposure continues to pose a health risk in Mexico. Children are a vulnerable population for lead effects and Mexican candy has been found to be a source of exposure in children. There are no previous studies that estimates lead concentrations in candy that children living in Mexico City consume and its association with their blood lead level.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Cortisol has functions on homeostasis, growth, neurodevelopment, immune function and the stress response. Secretion follows a diurnal rhythm that mediates these processes. Our objective was to examine the association between prenatal lead exposure and infant diurnal cortisol rhythms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: In recent years, pyrethroid pesticide use has increased in Mexico, the United States, and elsewhere, resulting in extensive human exposure. There is growing concern that pregnant women may be a particularly vulnerable population, as in utero fetal exposure during critical periods of development could adversely affect long-term neurobehavioral function.
Methods: We measured maternal urinary 3-phenoxybenzoic acid (3-PBA) concentrations during the third trimester of pregnancy as a measure of in utero pyrethroid exposure to the fetus among participants in an established Mexico City birth cohort (n=187).