TY - JOUR
T1 - Neuropsychological correlates of hair arsenic, manganese, and cadmium levels in school-age children residing near a hazardous waste site
AU - Wright, Robert O.
AU - Amarasiriwardena, Chitra
AU - Woolf, Alan D.
AU - Jim, Rebecca
AU - Bellinger, David C.
N1 - Funding Information:
Supported by a Milton Fund grant from Harvard University to DCB (540-45496-624473-730001). ROW is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health, K23 ES00381. This work was also supported in part by a grant from the ATSDR Superfund Reconciliation & Reclamation Act, administered through the Association of Occupational and Environmental Clinics Association (AOEC), Washington D.C. The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of ATSDR, AOEC, or the NIH.
PY - 2006/3
Y1 - 2006/3
N2 - A pilot study was conducted to explore the potential associations between hair metal levels and the neuropsychological function and behavior of school-aged children. Thirty-two children, 11-13 years old, were administered a battery of tests that assessed general intelligence, visual-motor skills, receptive language, verbal memory, nonverbal problem-solving, and behavior problems. Parents and teachers rated the children's attention, executive functions, and behavior problems. The concentrations of manganese (Mn), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd) were measured in hair samples provided by 31 of the children. The mean hair metal levels were: Mn, 471.5 parts per billion (ppb); As, 17.8 ppb; Cd, 57.7 ppb. Children's general intelligence scores, particularly verbal IQ scores, were significantly related, inversely, to hair Mn and As levels, as were scores on tests of memory for stories and a word list. In some cases, a significant Mn-by-As interaction was found. It appeared that it was the low scores of children for whom both Mn and As levels were above the median values in the sample that were responsible for the main effects observed for each metal. No other significant relationships were found. These results suggest the need to study further the neuropsychological correlates of developmental exposure to Mn and As, particularly as a mixture.
AB - A pilot study was conducted to explore the potential associations between hair metal levels and the neuropsychological function and behavior of school-aged children. Thirty-two children, 11-13 years old, were administered a battery of tests that assessed general intelligence, visual-motor skills, receptive language, verbal memory, nonverbal problem-solving, and behavior problems. Parents and teachers rated the children's attention, executive functions, and behavior problems. The concentrations of manganese (Mn), arsenic (As), and cadmium (Cd) were measured in hair samples provided by 31 of the children. The mean hair metal levels were: Mn, 471.5 parts per billion (ppb); As, 17.8 ppb; Cd, 57.7 ppb. Children's general intelligence scores, particularly verbal IQ scores, were significantly related, inversely, to hair Mn and As levels, as were scores on tests of memory for stories and a word list. In some cases, a significant Mn-by-As interaction was found. It appeared that it was the low scores of children for whom both Mn and As levels were above the median values in the sample that were responsible for the main effects observed for each metal. No other significant relationships were found. These results suggest the need to study further the neuropsychological correlates of developmental exposure to Mn and As, particularly as a mixture.
KW - Arsenic
KW - Behavior
KW - Cadmium
KW - Children
KW - Manganese
KW - Metal mixtures
KW - Neuropsychology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=32344441585&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.neuro.2005.10.001
DO - 10.1016/j.neuro.2005.10.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 16310252
AN - SCOPUS:32344441585
SN - 0161-813X
VL - 27
SP - 210
EP - 216
JO - NeuroToxicology
JF - NeuroToxicology
IS - 2
ER -