ArticleEnvironmental health perspectives2006
Effect of prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on neurodevelopment in the first 3 years of life among inner-city children.
Article in Environmental health perspectives, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 236 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
236 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 481 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of the use of silicone wristbands for environmental exposure assessment, with a focus on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2022Pooled it
- Impact of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon exposure on cognitive function and neurodegeneration in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- A Meta-Analysis of Stressors from the Total Environment Associated with Children's General Cognitive Ability.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Association between exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Pooled it
- Perinatal Exposure to Environmental Endocrine Disruptors in the Emergence of Neurodevelopmental Psychiatric Diseases: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Pooled it
- Exploring the endocrine activity of air pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas extraction.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2018Pooled it
- Contributions of a Child's Built, Natural, and Social Environments to Their General Cognitive Ability: A Systematic Scoping Review.PloS one · 2016Pooled it
- Developmental effects of exposures to environmental factors: the Polish Mother and Child Cohort Study.BioMed research international · 2013Trial
- Prenatal and early life phthalate exposure and early life stress: no interactions with adolescent internalizing symptoms.Environment international · 2026Article
- Less air pollution previously related to clean air and climate policies is linked to improved cognitive scores over time in NYC children.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- Discrete components of stress impact trajectories of childhood irritability but not adolescent mental health outcomes.JCPP advances · 2026Article
- Characterizing the relationship between air pollution and childhood cognition in the Children's health and air pollution study.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Prenatal exposure to particulate matter impairs offspring behavior via hippocampal NMDA receptor reduction: an in vivo and ex vivo study.Environment international · 2026Article
- Recreational physical activity and biomarkers of breast cancer risk in a cohort of adolescent girls.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2026Article
- Ligand-specific duality of aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling in cognitive health: from environmental neurotoxicity to microbiome-mediated neuroprotection.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Review
- Combined prenatal exposure to airborne polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and maternal distress is associated with childhood irritability.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Early-life painful and stressful exposures and neurodevelopment in preterm infants.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Epigenetic changes and their potential reversibility in mental health disorders.Essays in biochemistry · 2025Review
- Perinatal and Childhood Risk Factors of Adverse Early Childhood Developmental Outcomes: A Systematic Review Using a Socioecological Model.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Brain Abnormalities in Children Exposed Prenatally to the Pesticide Chlorpyrifos.JAMA neurology · 2025Article
176 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Our prospective cohort study of nonsmoking African-American and Dominican mothers and children in New York City is evaluating the role of prenatal exposure to urban pollutants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) , environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) , and pesticides, in the pathogenesis of neurobehavioral disorders. We used the Bayley Scales of Infant Development to evaluate the effects on child mental and psychomotor development of prenatal exposure to airborne PAHs monitored during pregnancy by personal air sampling. Behavioral development was assessed by the Child Behavior Checklist. We adjusted for potential confounders including sociodemographic factors and prenatal exposure to ETS and chlorpyrifos. Prenatal exposure to PAHs was not associated with psychomotor development index or behavioral problems. However, high prenatal exposure to PAHs (upper quartile) was associated with lower mental development index at age 3 [beta=-5.69; 95% confidence interval (CI), -9.05 to -2.33; p<0.01]. The odds of cognitive developmental delay were also significantly greater for children with high prenatal exposure (odds ratio=2.89; 95% CI, 1.33 to 6.25; p=0.01). General estimated equation analysis showed a significant age times PAH effect on mental development (p=0.01), confirming the age-specific regression findings. Further adjustment for lead did not alter the relationships. There were no differences in effect sizes by ethnicity. The results require confirmation but suggest that environmental PAHs at levels recently encountered in New York City air may adversely affect children's cognitive development at 3 years of age, with implications for school performance.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.