Exposure to fungicides and attention in 6-year old children from the Infants′ Environmental Health Study (ISA)

TPS 731: Neurological effects in children, Exhibition Hall, Ground floor, August 26, 2019, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM Background: Several fungicides are suspected endocrine disruptors and may impair children’s neurodevelopment, but data from prospective studies are lacking. In Costa Rica, fungicides are aerially sprayed and used postharvest on bananas. We examined whether exposure to fungicides was associated with poor attention in children from the Infants Environmental Health Study (ISA). Methods: To evaluate attention, we applied the Conners Continuous Performance Test (K-CPT-II) in 6-year old children (mean 6.4 ± 0.4 years) (n=268) using T-scores of omissions, commissions and Hit Reaction Time (HRT). To assess exposure to the fungicides mancozeb, pyrimethanil, and thiabendazole, we measured ethylenethiourea (ETU), hydroxy pyrimethanil (OHP), and 5-hydroxythiabendazole (5-OHT), respectively, in repeated urine samples collected during pregnancy and 5-6 years of age. We ran separate linear regression models for log-10 transformed mean prenatal, and mean child metabolite concentrations and CPT-II, adjusting for child age, child sex, HOME score, and maternal education. We examined effect-modification by sex. Results: Median (p25-p75) prenatal specific gravity-adjusted ETU, OHP and 5-OHT were 3.40 (2.38-4.79), 0.50 (0.21-1.28) and 0.10 (0.03-0.53) µg/L, and current ETU, OHP and 5-OHT were 2.66 (1.90-3.63), 0.86 (0.34-2.32) and 0.12 (0.04-0.49) µg/L, respectively. Higher current ETU concentrations were associated with increased omissions (ß=8.4 95%CI 3.5-13.4, per ten-fold increase in exposure). The association was stronger for girls (ß=7.3, 95%CI 0.6-13.9) as compared to boys (ß=5.5, 95%CI -1.6-12.6). For girls, both higher prenatal and current OHP concentrations were associated with increased omissions (ß=3.1, 95%CI 0.6-5.6 and ß=4.0, 95%CI 0.9-7.0, respectively), and current OHP concentrations were also associated with slower responses (ß=2.1, 95%CI 0.2.-2.9). OHT and prenatal ETU were not associated with measures of attention. Conclusion: Six-year old children with higher current exposure to mancozeb and higher prenatal and current exposure to pyrimethanil had poorer attention as compared to children with lower exposures, the effect was stronger for girls.