Ambient Toxic Air Contaminants in the Maternal Residential Area during Pregnancy and Cerebral Palsy in the Offspring.

Publisher: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0330411 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1552-9924 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00916765 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Environ Health Perspect Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: Research Triangle Park, N. C. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

Air Pollutants*/analysis ; Air Pollutants*/toxicity ; Cerebral Palsy*/epidemiology ; Cerebral Palsy*/chemically induced ; Volatile Organic Compounds*/analysis ; Maternal Exposure*/statistics & numerical data ; Maternal Exposure*/adverse effects; Humans ; Female ; Pregnancy ; California/epidemiology ; Adult ; Air Pollution/statistics & numerical data ; Air Pollution/adverse effects ; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects/epidemiology ; Cohort Studies ; Male ; Case-Control Studies

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common permanent neuromotor disorder diagnosed in childhood. Although most cases have unknown etiology, emerging evidence suggests environmental risk factors of CP.
Objectives: We investigated whether ambient toxic air contaminants (TACs) in the maternal residential area during pregnancy, specifically volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and metals, were associated with offspring CP risk in California.
Methods: We conducted a case-cohort study that included CP cases ( N = 906 ) and a 20% random sample of all live singleton births ( N = 184,954 ) who lived within a 5 -mile (8-km) radius of air toxics monitoring stations in California during 2005-2015 as the control comparison group. CP cases were ascertained from diagnostic records of the California Department of Developmental Services. We a priori selected TACs with suspected neurotoxicity and developmental toxicity, including 14 VOCs and 6 metals. We estimated the adjusted risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for CP and the average maternal residential exposures to each TAC over the entire pregnancy using modified Poisson regression. For air contaminant mixtures, we used quantile-based g-computation to estimate the effects of mixtures of VOCs or metals. Finally, we performed a negative control exposure analysis on exposure estimates of 36-48 months after delivery to evaluate uncontrolled confounding bias.
Results: Maternal residential exposures to six VOCs (benzene, toluene, 1,3-butadiene, acetone, acetonitrile, and methylene chloride) and four metals (antimony, lead, nickel, and vanadium) were associated with 3%-25% higher risk of CP per interquartile range increase, and the estimated mixture effects of VOCs ( RR = 1.24 ; 95% CI: 1.08, 1.43) or metals ( RR = 1.38 ; 95% CI: 1.20, 1.58) were stronger. The observed associations were close to null for negative control exposures (36-48 months after delivery) to mixtures of VOCs or metals and CP.
Discussion: In California, maternal prenatal residential exposure to VOCs and metals in the outdoor air, largely attributed to mobile traffic emission sources, was associated with an increased risk of CP in offspring. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP14742.

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R01 ES034756 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; R21 ES035485 United States ES NIEHS NIH HHS; UL1 TR001863 United States TR NCATS NIH HHS

0 (Air Pollutants)
0 (Volatile Organic Compounds)

Date Created: 20250124 Date Completed: 20250124 Latest Revision: 20250315

20250315

PMC11758984

10.1289/EHP14742

39853265