Impact of Prenatal Chlorpyrifos Exposure on Neurodevelopment in the First Three Years of Life Among Inner-City Children

Seven-Year Neurodevelopmental Scores and Prenatal Exposure to Chlorpyrifos, a Common Agricultural Pesticide

“…Lead was not significantly correlated with CPF level (r = -0.08, p = 0.49, as previously reported by Rauh et al 2006) or with 7-year WISC-IV scores (all p-values > 0.05) among the 89 children with available data. To avoid excluding observations without lead data, we did not include lead as a covariate in regression models.…”

“…Using a different biomarker of exposure (the parent compound of CPF in umbilical cord plasma), we have previously reported (in the same cohort as the present study) significant associations between prenatal exposure to CPF (> 6.17 pg/g) and reduced birth weight and birth length , increased risk of small size for gestational age (Rauh V, Whyatt R, Perera F, unpublished data), increased risk of mental and motor delay (< 80 points) and 3.5-to 6-point adjusted mean decrements on the 3-year Bayley Scales of Infant Development (Rauh et al 2006), and evidence of increased problems related to attention, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist at 2-3 years (Rauh et al 2006). Taken together, these prospective cohort studies show a consistent pattern of early cognitive and behavioral deficits related to prenatal OP exposure, across both agricultural and urban populations, using different biomarkers of prenatal exposure.…”

“…Although no other epidemiologic studies have evaluated the neurotoxicity of prenatal CPF exposure on cognitive development at the time of school entry, several prior studies, using the present biomarker of exposure, have reported evidence of early cognitive and behavioral effects associated with a urinary biomarker of nonspecific OP exposure (Engel et al 2007;Eskenazi et al 2007;Young et al 2005). Outcomes associated with exposure in these studies, as well as in our own earlier work (Rauh et al 2006), have included attentional problems (e.g., Marks et al 2010). These prior findings are consistent with the present 7-year results, because working memory skills involve attentional processes.…”

Characterization of chlorpyrifos-induced apoptosis in placental cells

“…The literature indicates that chronic CPF exposure is associated with decreased birth weight and length. In addition, lower birth weights have specifically been documented among African Americans infants (Rauh et al 2006;Perera et al 2003) exposed to CPF in utero. Finally CPF exposure is associated with alterations in developmental and psychomotor indices in Mexican-American children (Eskenazi, et al 2007) and with immunological abnormalities (Thrasher et al 2002).…”

Pesticide Exposure and Child Neurodevelopment: Summary and Implications

“…On comparisons of 48-to 71-month-old children living in an agricultural area with higher levels of organophosphates to cohorts living in nonagricultural areas, no statistically significant differences were found on most of the eight tests on neurobehavioral performance; however, the children in non-agricultural areas performed better than the children from agricultural areas on measures of reaction speed and latency (Rohlman et al, 2005). A prospective cohort study found that children of African American or Dominican mothers prenatally exposed to higher levels of chlorpyrifos exhibited poorer outcomes on the Child Behavior Checklist and Bayley Scales of Infant Development II compared to children with lower levels of exposure (Rauh et al, 2006), including greater deficits in motor, mental, and attention abilities. Furthermore, cognitive and psychomotor delays increased across all three assessment periods (i.e., 12, 24, and 36 months) (Rauh et al, 2006).…”