ArticleNeurotoxicology2019
Prenatal lead exposure and childhood executive function and behavioral difficulties in project viva.
Article in Neurotoxicology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Lead exposure and antisocial behavior: A systematic review of human and animal evidence.Environment international · 2025Pooled it
- Exposure to heavy metals in utero and autism spectrum disorder at age 3: a meta-analysis of two longitudinal cohorts of siblings of children with autism.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Pooled it
- Joint associations between gestational environmental chemical mixtures and child behavioral outcomes.Environment international · 2026Article
- Maternal obesity and prenatal alcohol exposure are associated with child development: Results from the Safe Passage Study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Baseline exposure-response assessment of metals from dried blood spots and personal household air pollution concentrations among pregnant women in Rwanda: household air pollution intervention network trial.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2025Article
- Nutritional Modulation of the Gut Microbiome in Relation to Prenatal Lead-Induced Neurotoxicity: A Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Childhood Pb-induced cognitive dysfunction: structural equation modeling of hot and cold executive functions.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Article
- Impact of early adolescent lead exposure on brain function and response: Findings from a Chinese cohort.Neurotoxicology · 2025Article
- The role of the gut microbiome in the associations between lead exposure and child neurodevelopment.Toxicology letters · 2025Review
- Infant cognitive home environment as a moderator for the association of prenatal lead on child language.Neurotoxicology · 2025Article
- Article
- Prenatal metal exposures and kidney function in adolescence in Project Viva.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Article
- Article
- Association between Prenatal Dietary Toxicants and Infant Neurodevelopment: The Role of Fish.Toxics · 2024Article
- Associations of Perinatal Metal and Metalloid Exposures with Early Child Behavioral Development Over Time in the New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study.Exposure and health · 2024Article
- Prenatal Metal Exposures and Child Social Responsiveness Scale Scores in 2 Prospective Studies.Environmental health insights · 2024Article
- Exposure to heavy metalsmedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2023Article
- Interaction of Heavy Metal Lead with Gut Microbiota: Implications for Autism Spectrum Disorder.Biomolecules · 2023Review
- Mixtures of Metals and Micronutrients in Early Pregnancy and Cognition in Early and Mid-Childhood: Findings from the Project Viva Cohort.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Hair Trace Elements and Mineral Content in Moroccan Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Case-Control Study.Biological trace element research · 2023Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLead is an established neurotoxicant and early life exposure to lead is associated with detrimental impacts on IQ and several neurobehavioral domains. Less is known, however, about effects of prenatal lead exposure below 5 μg/dL on executive function and on social, emotional and self-regulatory behaviors in childhood.
objectivesTo examine the association between prenatal lead exposure and childhood executive function and social, emotional and self-regulatory behaviors.
methodsWe included 1006 mother-child pairs from the Project Viva prospective pre-birth cohort. We measured prenatal maternal lead in second-trimester erythrocytes. In mid-childhood (median 7.7 years), parents and teachers rated executive function related behaviors using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and behavioral difficulties using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). We used multivariable linear regression models adjusted for maternal, paternal, and child characteristics and metal co-exposures.
resultsMean maternal erythrocyte lead concentration was 1.2 μg/dL (interquartile range [IQR] 0.8-1.5 μg /dL), equivalent to approximately 0.4 μg/dL in whole blood. In adjusted models, associations with parent and teacher-rated scales were largely null, although effect estimates were consistently positive, suggesting worse scores with increasing lead levels. For an IQR increase in lead, BRIEF Global Executive Composite (GEC) was 0.73 (95% CI: -0.06, 1.52) points higher for parent-rated scores and 0.42 (95% CI: -0.39, 1.23) points higher for teacher-rated scores. Associations were strongest for parent-rated BRIEF plan/organize (β = 0.85; 95% CI: 0.12, 1.59) and shift (β = 0.88; 95% CI: 0.01, 1.75) subscales, as well as the SDQ emotional problems subscale (β = 0.18; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.33). DISCUSSION: In this cohort with lead levels commonly experienced by U.S. women, there were few statistically significant associations with childhood executive function and behavior. However, there was a trend of worse neurobehavioral scores with increasing prenatal lead concentrations, in particular for childhood emotional problems and capacity to plan/organize and shift. Our results highlight the importance of continuing efforts to eliminate lead exposure in the general population.
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