Childhood exposure to non-persistent endocrine disruptors, glucocorticosteroids, and attentional function: A cross-sectional study based on the parametric g-formula

Fabbri, Lorenzo; Robinson, Oliver; Basagaña Flores, Xavier; Gražulevičienė, Regina; Guxens Junyent, Mònica; Kadawathagedara, Manik; Sakhi, Amrit Kaur; Maitre, Léa; McEachan, Rosemary R.C.; Philippat, Claire; Pozo Mendoza, Óscar J., 1975-; Thomsen, Cathrine; Wright, John; Yang, Tiffany C.; Vrijheid, Martine

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.120413

Childhood exposure to non-persistent endocrine disruptors, glucocorticosteroids, and attentional function: A cross-sectional study based on the parametric g-formula

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Fabbri L, Robinson O, Basagaña X, Chatzi L, Gražulevičienė R, Guxens M, et al. Childhood exposure to non-persistent endocrine disruptors, glucocorticosteroids, and attentional function: A cross-sectional study based on the parametric g-formula. Environ Res. 2025 Jan 1;264(Pt 2):120413. DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2024.120413

Abstract

Background: Evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may perturb the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis, which has a major role in brain development. We aimed to evaluate the effects of childhood exposure to organophosphate pesticides, phenols, and phthalate metabolites, on urinary glucocorticosteroids and inattention in childhood. Methods: We used data from the Human Early-Life Exposome (HELIX) cohort (2013-2016) and the parametric g-formula to estimate associations between EDCs, glucocorticosteroids, and hit reaction time standard error (HRT-SE), a measure of inattention, and tested for possible effect modification by sex. Results: We observed a positive marginal contrast (MC) for exposure increases from the 10th to the 90th percentile for methyl-paraben (MC: 0.042 and 95% confidence interval (CI): (0.013, 0.071)), and the phthalate metabolites oxo-MiNP (MC: 0.023 and 95% CI: (0.003, 0.044)), oh-MiNP (MC: 0.039 and 95% CI: (0.001, 0.076)), and MEHP (MC: 0.036 and 95% CI: (0.008, 0.063)), on HRT-SE, indicating lower attention. Several EDCs were also associated with a positive MC for cortisone, cortisol, and corticosterone production. Increased levels of the glucocorticosteroids were not associated with HRT-SE, although we found a possible effect modification by sex. Conclusions: Our results suggest that multiple EDCs might interfere with inattention and with the homeostasis of the HPA axis.