Exploring Gender Differences in Relationships of Prenatal Traffic Air Pollution Exposures with Attention and Memory Measures in Early School-aged Urban Children

摘要

Background: Prenatal air pollution may impact children's neurodevelopment albeit research is limited. Studies on gender-specific effects are more sparse. Aims: To examine effects of prenatal exposure to traffic-related black carbon (BC) and fine particulate matter with diameter≤2.5μm (PM2.5) on children's attention and memory measures obtained at age 6.4+0.9 years in a Boston pregnancy cohort (n=150 assessed to date). Methods: BC and PM2.5 estimates were derived using validated spatial-temporal land-use regression models based on mother's residence during pregnancy. Select attention (omission error, commission error, and hit reaction time [HRT] t-scores from the Conners' Continuous Performance Test-Ⅱ) and memory (general, verbal, and visual memory scores from the Wide Range Assessment of Memory & Learning-2) domains were assessed. Overall associations were examined in multiple linear regression models adjusting for age at assessment, birthweight, child's 10. and gender, maternal race and education, pre- and postnatal maternal stress and maternal smoking. Effect modification by gender was examined in stratified models. Results: Mothers were primarily Hispanic (57%) and African American (30%) with ＜12 years of education (68%); 54% were boys. Median prenatal BC and PM2.5 levels were 0.38 (interquartile range [IQR]=0.30-0.50) μg/m3 and 11.2 (IQR=10.3-11.9) μg/m3, respectively. Overall, an IQR increase in BC was associated with increased omission errors (β=4.3, 95% CI: 0.7-9.2), slower HRT (β=3.5, 95% CI: 0.1-7.0), and decreased general memory (β=-2.6, 95% CI: -6.1 to -0.8). When stratified by gender, we found significant relationships of BC with omission errors and HRT only among boys, and with general and verbal memory only among girls. Patterns for PM2.5 were similar albeit less significant. Conclusions: Prenatal air pollution, especially traffic-related pollutants, may be associated with neurodevelopment in urban children; it may impact specific cognitive domains in boys and girls differently.