ArticleEnvironmental research2020
White matter microstructure mediates the association between prenatal exposure to phthalates and behavior problems in preschool children.
Article in Environmental research, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Toxicant exposure and the developing brain: A systematic review of the structural and functional MRI literature.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Review
- Associations of Exposure to Common Plasticizers and Organophosphate Pesticides during Pregnancy and in Childhood with Cognitive Performance in Adolescents: A Population-Based Study.Environmental science & technology · 2026Article
- Prenatal and childhood exposure to common plasticizers in relation to emotional and behavioral development through adolescence.The Science of the total environment · 2026Article
- Early life phthalate and replacement plasticizer exposures and changes in early childhood brain functional connectivity and structural morphology.Environment international · 2026Article
- Early life phthalate exposure impacts gray matter and white matter volume in infants and young children.Environmental research · 2025Article
- Sex-specific white matter alterations in children exposed to high pregestational BMI.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2025Article
- Using machine learning to investigate the influence of the prenatal chemical exposome on neurodevelopment of young children.Neurotoxicology · 2025Article
- The environmental neuroactive chemicals list of prioritized substances for human biomonitoring and neurotoxicity testing: A database and high-throughput toxicokinetics approach.Environmental research · 2025Article
- The impact of psychosocial adversity on brain and behaviour: an overview of existing knowledge and directions for future research.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Review
- Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors in Early life and Neuroimaging Findings in Childhood and Adolescence: a Scoping Review.Current environmental health reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Prenatal exposure to common plasticizers: a longitudinal study on phthalates, brain volumetric measures, and IQ in youth.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Article
- Environmental Toxicants and the Developing Brain.Biological psychiatry · 2023Review
- Environmental chemical exposures and mental health outcomes in children: a narrative review of recent literature.Frontiers in toxicology · 2023Review
- An intergenerational lifespan perspective on the neuroscience of prenatal substance exposure.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2022Article
- Phthalate mixtures in pregnancy, autistic traits, and adverse childhood behavioral outcomes.Environment international · 2021Article
- Similar names, different results: Consistency of the associations between prenatal exposure to phthalates and parent-ratings of behavior problems in preschool children.Environment international · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrevious research reports associations between prenatal exposure to phthalates and childhood behavior problems; however, the neural mechanisms that may underlie these associations are relatively unexplored.
objectiveThis study examined microstructural white matter as a possible mediator of the associations between prenatal phthalate exposure and behavior problems in preschool-aged children.
methodsData are from a subsample of a prospective pregnancy cohort, the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) study (n = 76). Mother-child pairs were included if mothers provided a second trimester urine sample, if the child completed a successful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan at age 3-5 years, and if the Child Behavior Checklist was completed within 6 months of the MRI scan. Molar sums of high (HMWP) and low molecular weight phthalates (LMWP) were calculated from levels in urine samples. Associations between prenatal phthalate concentrations, fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) in 10 major white matter tracts, and preschool behavior problems were investigated.
resultsMaternal prenatal phthalate concentrations were associated with MD of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFO), right pyramidal fibers, left and right uncinate fasciculus (UF), and FA of the left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF). Mediation analyses showed that prenatal exposure to HMWP was indirectly associated with Internalizing (path ab = 0.09, CI DISCUSSION: This study provides the first evidence of childhood neural correlates of prenatal phthalate exposure. Results suggest that prenatal phthalate exposure may be related to microstructural white matter in the IFO, pyramidal fibers, UF, and ILF. Further, MD of the right IFO and pyramidal fibers may transmit childhood risk for behavioral problems.
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