Prenatal exposure to phthalate esters and children's temperament

摘要

Background: Previous studies have reported that phthalates exposure affect the development of behavior problems with limited information on personality. Aims: Our goal was to examine the association between prenatal exposure to phthalates and the children temperament. Methods:We recruited 430 pregnant women without complications from the general population in central Taiwan during 2000.11 ～ 2001.11. Urinary samples were collected during the third trimester. The children have been followed for temperament (Thomas and Chess) at 2-3 and 5-6 years old. Seven urinary phthalate metabolites representing the exposure to most frequently used five phthalate esters (DMP, DEP, DnBP, BBzP and DEHP) were measured by LC-ESI-MS/MS. Results:Maternal urinary MMP, MEP, MnBP, MBzP and MEHP concentrations were positively correlated with distractibility (i.e. β= 0.35 for MEHP, p＜0.05) and lower intensity of reaction (β= -0.28, p＜0.05) in boys aged 2-3 years, after adjustment for parental education, parity, parenting style, and Bayley scores at 2 years. Similarly, pregnan women with higher MMP, 5OH-MEHP and 5oxo-MEHP metabolite concentrations were associated with lower intensity of reaction (i.e. β= -0.68 for MMP, p＜0.05) in boys aged 5-6 years. We also found that children persistence scores decreased with increasing maternal DEHP exposure (β= -0.38, p＜0.05) in 2-year-old boy. Among girls, higher prenatal exposure to DMP and BBzP were associated with higher levels of social withdrawal at 5-6 years (β= 0.64; β=0.70, p＜0.05respectively). There was less extent of the relation to postnatal exposure. Conclusions:Our findings suggest prenatal exposure to phthalates were likely to affect the children personality with different pattern for boys and girls.