Exposure to PVC-fiooring in early life and associations with intellectual skills 10 years later

摘要

Background:Epidemiological studies have shown that exposure to suspected endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may relate to several adverse health outcomes in children. Studies show that exposure to EDCs in foetus and infancy period may give rise to health effects later on in life. There is a growing concern about how EDCs can affect intelligence and learning disabilities. Studies have shown inverse associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and behavior and intellectual related problemsAim:To investigate if PVC flooring in the home of children at the age of 1-5 years is associated with intellectual skills 10 years laterMethods:The DBH study started year 2000 in Varmland, Sweden, with a baseline questionnaire to the parents of 14,077 children age 1-5 years. Ten years later, a follow-up questionnaire was sent out to all children where 7,806 responded. Parental reported PVC exposure in the baseline questionnaire and reported intellectual skills (difficulties in concentration, learning, language and interaction with adults/children) ten years later were investigated. Analyses were adjusted for age, sex, smoking in the family, single parenthood, multi-family housing and mothers educationResults: In trend and crude analysis, PVC flooring in the parents' bedroom (when compared with other flooring types) was associated with more difficulties in concentration, language and learning 10 years later. In adjusted analyses, significant associations remained for learning difficulties. When stratifying for sex, the association for learning difficulties was only seen for girls and in the parents' bedroom (aOR 1.69; 1.13-2.51) compared with the child's bedroom (aOR 1.21; 0.80-1.81). Conclusions: One explanation for the association to PVC flooring in the parent's bedroom may be that this is representing the exposure during pregnancy while PVC exposure in the children's bedroom is more of a postnatal exposure. These results indicate that prenatal exposure to phthalates might affect intellectual skill development later in life.