Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40222479›Full record

ArticleNeurotoxicology2025

Using machine learning to investigate the influence of the prenatal chemical exposome on neurodevelopment of young children.

Gillian England-Mason, Sarah J MacEachern, Kimberly Amador, Munawar Hussain Soomro, Anthony J F Reardon, Amy M MacDonald, David W Kinniburgh, Nicole Letourneau, Gerald F Giesbrecht, Jonathan W Martin and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neurotoxicology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Linking the exposome to the brain-behaviour phenotype.Nature reviews. Neuroscience · 2026
    Review
  3. Review
  4. An Exploration of Machine Learning Methods in Human Biomonitoring.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026
    Review
  5. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Gillian England-MasonDepartment of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Sarah J MacEachernDepartment of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta.
Kimberly AmadorAlberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Munawar Hussain SoomroDepartment of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Anthony J F ReardonDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Amy M MacDonaldAlberta Centre for Toxicology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
David W KinniburghDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Centre for Toxicology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Nicole LetourneauDepartment of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Gerald F GiesbrechtDepartment of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta; Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Jonathan W MartinScience for Life Laboratory, Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.
Nils D ForkertAlberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Deborah DeweyDepartment of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Department of Community Health Sciences, Cumming School of Medicine University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Electronic address: dmdewey@ucalgary.ca.

Funding

Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition (APrON) - Toxicant-Diet Interactions onR21ES021295 · NIEHS · UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA · PI MARTIN, JONATHAN WAYNE · 2012 to 2014
$320k
NIEHS NIH HHS R21 ES021295
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Research investigating the prenatal chemical exposome and child neurodevelopment has typically focused on a limited number of chemical exposures and controlled for sociodemographic factors and maternal mental health. Emerging machine learning approaches may facilitate more comprehensive examinations of the contributions of chemical exposures, sociodemographic factors, and maternal mental health to child neurodevelopment. A machine learning pipeline that utilized feature selection and ranking was applied to investigate which common prenatal chemical exposures and sociodemographic factors best predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in young children. Data from 406 maternal-child pairs enrolled in the APrON study were used. Maternal concentrations of 32 environmental chemical exposures (i.e., phthalates, bisphenols, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), metals, trace elements) measured during pregnancy and 11 sociodemographic factors, as well as measures of maternal mental health and urinary creatinine were entered into the machine learning pipeline. The pipeline, which consisted of a RReliefF variable selection algorithm and support vector machine regression model, was used to identify and rank the best subset of variables predictive of cognitive, language, and motor development outcomes on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Third Edition (Bayley-III) at 2 years of age. Bayley-III cognitive scores were best predicted using 29 variables, resulting in a correlation coefficient of r = 0.27 (R

Indexed as

Child DevelopmentEnvironmental PollutantsExposomeMachine LearningMaternal ExposureNeurodevelopmental DisordersPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsAdultChild, PreschoolFemaleHumansInfantMalePregnancyEnvironmental PollutantsAPrONDevelopmental neurotoxicologyEpidemiologyInfant and child neurotoxicity studiesNeurobehavioural Testing

Identifiers

PMID40222479
PMCPMC13227153

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.