Cross-sectional study of social behaviors in preschool children and exposure to flame retardants

Abstract

BackgroundChildren are exposed to flame retardants from the built environment. Brominated diphenyl ethers (BDE) and organophosphate-based flame retardants (OPFRs) are associated with poorer neurocognitive functioning in children. Less is known, however, about the association between these classes of compounds and children’s emotional and social behaviors. The objective of this study was to determine if flame retardant exposure was associated with measurable differences in social behaviors among children ages 3–5 years.MethodsWe examined teacher-rated social behaviors measured using the Social Skills Improvement Rating Scale (SSIS) and personal exposure to flame retardants in children aged 3–5 years who attended preschool (n = 72). Silicone passive samplers worn for 7 days were used to assess personal exposure to 41 compounds using gas chromatography-mass spectrophotometer. These concentrations were then summed into total BDE and total OPFR exposure prior to natural log transformation. Separate generalized additive models were used to evaluate the relationship between seven subscales of the SSIS and lnΣBDE or lnΣOPFR adjusting for other age, sex, adverse social experiences, and family context.ResultsAll children were exposed to a mixture of flame retardant compounds. We observed a dose dependent relationship between lnΣOPFR and two subscales where children with higher exposures were rated by their preschool teachers as having less responsible behavior (p = 0.07) and more externalizing behavior problems (p = 0.03). Additionally, children with higher lnΣBDE exposure were rated by teachers as less assertive (p = 0.007).ConclusionsWe observed a cross-sectional association between children’s exposure to flame retardant compounds and teacher-rated social behaviors among preschool-aged children. Children with higher flame retardant exposures exhibited poorer social skills in three domains that play an important role in a child’s ability to succeed academically and socially.

Analysis of brominated and chlorinated flame retardants, organophosphate esters, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in silicone wristbands used as personal passive samplers

“…As passive samplers, silicone wristbands work by chemical diffusion (absorption) of an environmental contaminant into the polymer of the silicone over time [4]. They were first introduced by O'Connell et al [5] in 2014 to assess exposure in an occupational setting, but have since been used in several studies, ranging from assessment of pesticide exposure among farmers in West Africa [6] and Peru [7] and flame retardant exposure among preschool children in the United States [4,8,9], to assessment of volatile organic chemicals emanating from the surface of human skin [10]. These studies have demonstrated that a commercial silicone wristband, worn by study participants, offers a non-invasive and simple way to quantify personal exposure to multiple chemicals from multiple microenvironments and within a multiday time period.…”

Nicotine levels in silicone wristband samplers worn by children exposed to secondhand smoke and electronic cigarette vapor are highly correlated with child’s urinary cotinine

“…shorter time periods such as 1 day were not tested. Our results also imply that if the silicone sampler is left for a period of a week for practical reasons, the exposure estimation would not be 8, and 7 days (7,9,10). Shorter deployments may have practical advantages, as a longer deployment allows for more time for sampler loss or misplacement.…”

“…In children and adults, the wristbands were used to estimate exposure to flame retardants (7), and appeared to perform better than hand wipes (8). The silicone wristband was also used to estimate children's exposure to flame retardants in a study of behavioral effects (9).…”

Prioritization of hazards of novel flame retardants using the mechanistic toxicology information from ToxCast and Adverse Outcome Pathways

“…We found five plausible AOPs that lead to either of the two AOs related to male reproductive toxicity. Finally, considering neurotoxicity, several fish studies report effects of most Cat I FRs on locomotor activity and a couple of human studies report statistical associations between TPhP or TCEP exposure and neurobehavior/cognition in children [8,24,38]. Several animal studies analyzing the neurotoxic effects of TBBPA reached contradictory conclusions, ranging from LOAELs of 0.1 mg/kg/day in mice or 0.0064 µM in zebrafish to NOAELs of 1000 mg/kg/day in rats [16,26,32,46,47,50,77].…”