Organophosphate pesticide metabolite concentrations in urine during pregnancy and offspring nonverbal IQ at age 6 years

Jusko, Todd A.; van den Dries, Michiel; Pronk, Anjoeka; Shaw, Pamela A.; Guxens Junyent, Mònica; Spaan, Suzanne; Jaddoe, Vincent W. V.; Tiemeier, Henning; Longnecker, Matthew P.

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/EHP3024

Organophosphate pesticide metabolite concentrations in urine during pregnancy and offspring nonverbal IQ at age 6 years

Citation

Jusko TA, van den Dries MA, Pronk A, Shaw PA, Guxens M, Spaan S, Jaddoe VW, Tiemeier H, Longnecker MP. Organophosphate pesticide metabolite concentrations in urine during pregnancy and offspring nonverbal IQ at age 6 years. Environ Health Perspect. 2019; 127(1):17007. DOI: 10.1289/EHP3024

Abstract

Background: Susceptibility to organophosphate (OP) pesticide neurotoxicity may be greatest during the prenatal period; however, previous studies have produced mixed findings concerning in utero OP pesticide exposure and child cognition. Objectives: Our objective was to determine whether maternal urinary concentrations of OP pesticide metabolites are inversely associated with child nonverbal IQ at 6 y of age and to examine potential effect measure modification by the PON1 gene. Methods: Data came from 708 mother–child pairs participating in the Generation R Study. Maternal urine concentrations of six dialkylphosphates (DAPs), collected at [Formula: see text], 18–25, and [Formula: see text] of gestation, were determined. Child nonverbal IQ was measured at 6 y of age using the Mosaics and Categories subtests from the Snijders-Oomen Nonverbal Intelligence Test-Revised. PON1 was determined in cord blood for 474 infants. Multiple linear regression models were fit to estimate the DAP-IQ associations and PON1 interactions. Results: Overall, associations between child nonverbal IQ and maternal DAP concentrations were small and imprecise, and these associations were inconsistent across urine sampling periods. Howover, for a 10-fold difference in total DAP concentration for the [Formula: see text] of gestation samples, adjusted child nonverbal IQ was 3.9 points lower (95% CI: [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]). Heterogeneity in the DAP–IQ association by PON1 gene allele status was not observed ([Formula: see text]). Conclusions: Consistent evidence of an association between higher maternal urinary DAP concentrations and lower child IQ scores at 6 y of age was not observed. There was some evidence for an inverse relation of child nonverbal IQ and late pregnancy urinary DAPs, but the estimated association was imprecise. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3024.