Household pesticide exposures and infant gross motor development in the MADRES cohort

Abstract

Background The development of motor skills in infancy is a vital neurodevelopmental milestone. Although previous studies have explored the neurotoxic effects of agricultural pesticides on infants’ motor development, limited research has examined early postnatal household pesticide use on infants’ motor development, particularly among urban communities. Objective This study examined the association between early postnatal household pesticide use and infants’ gross and fine motor development at 6 months of age. Methods Questionnaires were administered via telephone to 296 mother–infant dyads in the Maternal and Developmental Risks from Environmental and Social Stressors (MADRES) pregnancy cohort. Early life household pesticide use was assessed via questionnaire administered when infants turned 3 months old and gross and fine motor development was assessed by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ‐3) at 6 months old. Infant gross motor scores were reverse coded so that higher scores indicated lower gross motor performance. Negative binomial regressions were performed to assess the relationship between household pesticide use and infant gross motor development. Results Infants were predominantly Hispanic (78.7%) and full term (gestational age at birth: 39.0 ± 1.9 weeks), with 22.3% of maternal participants reporting household use of rodent and insect pesticides. Adjusting for recruitment site, maternal age, ethnicity, household income, education, infant corrected age, infant sex, and home type, infants with maternal‐reported household use of rodent and insect pesticides had 1.30 times higher expected gross motor scores (95% confiidence interval 1.05, 1.61) than infants with no reported use of household pesticides, with higher scores indicating reduced gross motor performance. Conclusions Our results suggest household use of rodent and insect pesticides may harm infants’ gross motor development in early childhood. Future research should evaluate the impact of specific household chemicals in infant biospecimens and their associations with infant motor development to confirm these findings.

Disparities in Toxic Chemical Exposures and Associated Neurodevelopmental Outcomes: A Scoping Review and Systematic Evidence Map of the Epidemiological Literature

“…Most studies were conducted in California ( ) involving participants from the CHAMACOS cohort or in New York City ( ) and examined a variety of neurological health outcomes at different life stages. In terms of main effects, 25 of the 41 studies (or 61%) showed adverse effects of OP exposure on ASD, 96 , 211 – 213 infant development, 93 , 94 , 143 , 214 intelligence, 140 , 215 , 216 neural dynamics and executive functioning, 217 , 218 increases in abnormal reflexes, 219 , 220 inattention and internalizing behavior, 138 and tremors in both arms. 221 There were mixed results in 13 studies (or 32%).…”