Maternal serum persistent organic pollutants in the Finnish Prenatal Study of Autism: A pilot study

• Published in: Neurotoxicology and teratology Vol. 38; pp. 1 - 5
• Main Authors: Cheslack-Postava, Keely, Rantakokko, Panu V., Hinkka-Yli-Salomäki, Susanna, Surcel, Heljä-Marja, McKeague, Ian W., Kiviranta, Hannu A., Sourander, Andre, Brown, Alan S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.07.2013
• Subjects: Adult; Autism; Autistic Disorder - chemically induced; Case-Control Studies; DDE; Emergency; Environmental Pollutants - blood; Environmental Pollutants - toxicity; Female; Halogenated Diphenyl Ethers - blood; Humans; Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated - blood; Male; Medical Education; Mothers; PCBs; Persistent organic pollutants; Pilot Projects; Pregnancy; Prenatal; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - chemically induced; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - psychology; Prenatal; Autism; PCBs; DDE; Persistent organic pollutants
• ISSN: 0892-0362; 1872-9738; 1872-9738
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ntt.2013.04.001

Recent research emphasizes the contribution of environmental as well as genetic factors to the etiology of autism but studies testing associations between chemical exposures and autism have been limited. Prenatal exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) has previously been associated with decrements in cognitive and developmental performance. We conducted a pilot study in the Finnish Prenatal Study of Autism (FiPS-A). Seventy-five cases with autism and 75 controls matched on sex, birth year, urbanization and maternal age were sampled from first-born children in the Finnish Maternity Cohort, which includes over 1million births. The study sample included births occurring from 1991 to 2000. Subjects were followed up for autism through 2007. DDT, DDE, PCB-118, PCB-138, PCB-153, PCB-156, PCB-170, PCB-180, hexachlorobenzene, and BDE-47 were measured in archived maternal serum samples taken during pregnancy using gas chromatography–high resolution mass spectrometry. Correlations between pollutant measures were assessed and mechanistically-related weighting schemes for summarizing PCB levels were compared. Case and control differences were assessed using graphical and statistical methods. All analytes, with the exception of DDT and BDE-47, were detected above the limit of quantification in all samples. The correlation between levels of individual PCB congeners and weighted summary measures was high (0.71–1.00). Paired t-tests revealed no significant differences between cases and controls for log-transformed mean values of any analyte; however, in an adjusted model the odds ratios for autism were 1.91 (p=0.29) and 1.79 (p=0.36) respectively, for subjects with total PCBs and DDE above the 90th percentile of control values. Levels of prenatal PCB exposure in FIPS-A were similar to the levels which previously correlated with poorer neurodevelopmental measures in other populations. Further study in a larger sample will be required to fully determine whether exposure to high POP levels is associated with autism diagnosis in the population. •Studies on associations between chemical exposures and autism have been limited.•We conducted a pilot case–control study in the Finnish Prenatal Study of Autism.•Persistent organic pollutants were measured in prenatal maternal serum samples.•6 PCB congeners and DDE were detected in all samples.•Non-statistically significant positive associations with autism were observed.