ArticleNeurotoxicology and teratology
Sexually dimorphic associations between prenatal blood lead exposure and performance on a behavioral testing battery in children.
Article in Neurotoxicology and teratology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Associated with Early-Life Exposure to Heavy Metals: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Maternal blood lead levels and proximity to legacy mining contamination in Kabwe, Zambia: socioeconomic disparities and potential implications on fetal health.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Sexual dimorphism in the programming effects of prenatal manganese multi-media biomarker on temporal cognition in school-aged children.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Lead exposure across early life in Latin America and the Caribbean: prevention strategies and reproductive health considerations.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2026Review
- Childhood Pb-induced cognitive dysfunction: structural equation modeling of hot and cold executive functions.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Article
- Developmental Pb exposure increases rate of forgetting on a delayed matching-to-sample task among Mexican children.Science advances · 2025Article
- Current Understanding of Sex Differences in Metal-Induced Diseases.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- Sex-specific associations between co-exposure to multiple metals and externalizing symptoms in adolescence and young adulthood.Environmental research · 2024Article
- Prenatal exposure to metal mixtures and childhood temporal processing in the PROGRESS Birth Cohort Study: Modification by childhood obesity.The Science of the total environment · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAssociations between lead (Pb) and neurodevelopment have been studied widely in the context of global measures of cognitive function, such as IQ. Operant test batteries consist of behavioral tasks that can be used to target discrete cognitive and behavioral mechanisms, which contribute to global cognitive faculties.
objectivesThe goals of this study were to identify Pb-associated deficits in cognitive development and determine the underlying mechanisms involved, utilizing an operant test battery. We evaluated effect modification by child sex.
methodsThis study utilized data from a prospective cohort in Mexico City. We included 549 participants aged 6-to-7 years with complete data on prenatal blood Pb measurements, Operant Test Battery (OTB) tasks, and demographic covariates. General linear models were used to examine the association of Pb levels at each prenatal timepoint and OTB performance. Effect modification by child sex was evaluated using 2-way interaction terms.
resultsIn three of the operant tasks, we observed that higher late-pregnancy blood Pb concentrations were associated with greater response latencies. In the temporal processing task, we observed that higher late-pregnancy Pb exposure was associated with worse overall task performance. Further, in two operant tasks, the effects of Pb were dependent on the sex of the child, such that the effects of Pb were more pronounced in females in the condition position responding task, but stronger in males in the temporal processing task.
conclusionsOur results suggest that prenatal Pb concentrations yield broad dysregulation of executive functions, which can be attributed to dysregulation of temporal processing. In addition, we observed sex differences in two operant tasks suggesting that some Pb effects on neurocognitive function may be sexually dimorphic.
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