Exposure to environmental toxicants and young children’s cognitive and social development

Davis, Alexandra N.; Carlo, Gustavo; Gülseven, Zehra; Palermo, Francisco; Lin, Chung‐Ho; Nagel, Susan C.; Vu, Danh C.; Vo, Phuc H.; Ho, Tuan Hua David; McElroy, Jane A.

doi:10.1515/reveh-2018-0045

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…These processes build over time, leading to important cognitive functions such as language and speech, attention, conduct, and reasoning ( Villar et al, 2019 ). Therefore, perturbations in their biological environment, such as toxicant exposure, can disrupt the precise orchestration of events, resulting in irreversible downstream effects such as neurodevelopmental delays, behavioral issues, and learning difficulties ( Davis et al, 2019 ). In addition to this stage of fast brain plasticity, children are more vulnerable to adverse environmental exposures than adults due to additional biological and social reasons.…”

Section: Metal Exposure On Public Health: Low and Middle-income Count...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure of metal toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease: An extensive review

et al. 2022

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Metals serve important roles in the human body, including the maintenance of cell structure and the regulation of gene expression, the antioxidant response, and neurotransmission. High metal uptake in the nervous system is harmful because it can cause oxidative stress, disrupt mitochondrial function, and impair the activity of various enzymes. Metal accumulation can cause lifelong deterioration, including severe neurological problems. There is a strong association between accidental metal exposure and various neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common form of dementia that causes degeneration in the aged. Chronic exposure to various metals is a well-known environmental risk factor that has become more widespread due to the rapid pace at which human activities are releasing large amounts of metals into the environment. Consequently, humans are exposed to both biometals and heavy metals, affecting metal homeostasis at molecular and biological levels. This review highlights how these metals affect brain physiology and immunity and their roles in creating harmful proteins such as β-amyloid and tau in AD. In addition, we address findings that confirm the disruption of immune-related pathways as a significant toxicity mechanism through which metals may contribute to AD.

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Section: Metal Exposure On Public Health: Low and Middle-income Count...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Exposure of metal toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease: An extensive review

et al. 2022

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“…CEH science has historically focused on the impact of exposures on health outcomes such as asthma rather than social-emotional or behavioral functioning (Davis et al, 2019).…”

Section: Assessing Developmentally-meaningful Outcomesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental contaminants and child development: Developmentally‐informed opportunities and recommendations for integrating and informing child environmental health science

Miller

2022

New Drctns Chld & Adlscnt

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Child environmental health (CEH) science has identified numerous effects of early life exposures to common, ubiquitous environmental toxicants. CEH scientists have documented the costs not only to individual children but also to population‐level health effects of such exposures. Importantly, such risks are unequally distributed in the population, with historically marginalized communities and the children living in these communities receiving the most damaging exposures. Developmental science offers a lens and set of methodologies to identify nuanced biological and behavioral processes that drive child development across physical, cognitive, and socioemotional domains. Developmental scientists are also experts in considering the multiple, hierarchically‐layered contexts that shape development alongside toxicant exposure. Such contexts and the individuals acting within them make up an overarching “child serving ecosystem” spanning systems and sectors that serve children directly and indirectly. Articulating how biobehavioral mechanisms and social–ecological contexts unfold from a developmental perspective are needed in order to inform CEH translation and intervention efforts across this child‐serving ecosystem. Developmentalists can also benefit from integrating CEH science findings in their work by considering the role of the physical environment, and environmental toxicants specifically, on child health and development. Building on themes that were laid out by Trentacosta and Mulligan in 2020, this commentary presents recommendations for connecting developmental and CEH science and for translating such work so that it can be used to promote child development in an equitable manner across this child‐serving ecosystem. These opportunities include (1) Using Developmentally‐Informed Conceptual Models; (2) Applying Creative, Sophisticated, and Rigorous Methods; (3) Integrating Developmentally‐Sensitive Intervention Considerations; and (4) Establishing Interdisciplinary Collaborations and Cross‐Sector Partnerships.

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“…These events build upon one another and, over time, manifest as vital cognitive functions, such as language and speech production, attention, behavior, and reasoning [ 12 ]. Thus, disruptions in their biological environments, including exposure to toxicants, may disturb the fine orchestration of events, causing irreversible downstream effects such as neurodevelopmental delays, behavioral problems, and learning disabilities [ 13 ]. In addition to this period of rapid brain plasticity, other biological and social factors put children at increased risk of harmful environmental exposures as compared to the adults.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy metals and neurodevelopment of children in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review

et al. 2022

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Background The presence of harmful environmental exposures, which disproportionately affects low-and-middle income countries (LMICs), contributes to >25% of deaths and diseases worldwide and detrimentally affects child neurodevelopment. Few resources succinctly summarize the existing literature on this topic. Our objective is to systematically review and characterize the evidence regarding the relationship between heavy metals and neurodevelopment of children in LMICs. Methods We conducted a medical librarian-curated search on multiple online databases to identify articles that included individuals <18 years living in a LMIC, quantitatively measured exposure to a heavy metal (either prenatal or postnatal), and used a standardized measurement of neurodevelopment (i.e. cognitive, language, motor, and behavior). Reviews, editorials, or case studies were excluded. Results were analyzed qualitatively, and quality was assessed. Results Of the 18,043 screened articles, 298 full-text articles were reviewed, and 100 articles met inclusion criteria. The included studies represented data from 19 LMICs, only one of which was classified as a low-income country. Ninety-four percent of postnatal lead and all postnatal manganese studies showed a negative association with metal exposure and neurodevelopment, which were the strongest relationships among the metals studied. Postnatal exposure of mercury was associated with poor neurodevelopment in only half of studies. Limited data on postnatal arsenic and cadmium suggests an association with worse neurodevelopment. Findings were mixed for prenatal arsenic and lead, although some evidence supports that the neurotoxicity of lead was amplified in the presence of manganese. Conclusions and potential impact We found that lead and manganese appear to consistently have a detrimental effect on the neurodevelopment of children, and more evidence is needed for mercury, arsenic, and cadmium. Better characterization of these effects can motivate and inform prioritization of much needed international policies and programs to reduce heavy metal exposures for young children within LMICs.

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Exposure to environmental toxicants and young children’s cognitive and social development

Cited by 20 publications

References 86 publications

Exposure of metal toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease: An extensive review

Exposure of metal toxicity in Alzheimer’s disease: An extensive review

Environmental contaminants and child development: Developmentally‐informed opportunities and recommendations for integrating and informing child environmental health science

Heavy metals and neurodevelopment of children in low and middle-income countries: A systematic review

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