Background

Prenatal exposure to environmental chemicals has been associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms in some, but not all, studies, but most research has not accounted for other childhood behavior problems.

Objectives

To evaluate the specific associations of prenatal phthalate exposures with ASD symptoms in children (ages 3–6) accounting for other behavior problems, and to assess sex differences in these associations.

Methods

We measured phthalate metabolites in prenatal urine samples. Mothers completed the Social Responsiveness Scale-2nd edition (SRS-2) to assess child ASD symptoms and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) to assess general behavior problems. We assessed associations of the sum of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate metabolites, monobutyl phthalate, mono-isobutyl phthalate, and monoethyl phthalate (mEP) with ASD symptoms, adjusting for other behavior problems, using linear regression models (n=77).

Results

Most associations were null, and the sample size limited power to detect associations, particularly in the stratified analyses. After adjusting for internalizing and externalizing problems from the CBCL, ASD symptoms increased for each doubling of prenatal mEP concentration among boys only.

Conclusions

Further investigation of maternal prenatal urinary phthalate metabolite concentrations and ASD symptoms while adjusting for other behavioral problems is warranted.

中文翻译：

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低风险儿童的产前邻苯二甲酸酯暴露和自闭症谱系障碍症状

背景

在一些（但不是全部）研究中，产前暴露于环境化学物质与自闭症谱系障碍 (ASD) 症状有关，但大多数研究并未考虑其他儿童行为问题。

目标

评估产前邻苯二甲酸酯暴露与儿童（3-6 岁）的 ASD 症状之间的特定关联，以及其他行为问题，并评估这些关联中的性别差异。

方法

我们测量了产前尿液样本中的邻苯二甲酸酯代谢物。母亲完成了社会反应量表第二版 (SRS-2) 以评估儿童 ASD 症状和儿童行为检查表 (CBCL) 以评估一般行为问题。我们评估了邻苯二甲酸二（2-乙基己基）代谢物、邻苯二甲酸单丁酯、邻苯二甲酸单异丁酯和邻苯二甲酸单乙酯 (mEP) 总和与 ASD 症状的关联，并使用线性回归模型调整了其他行为问题 ( n =77) .

结果

大多数关联是无效的，并且样本量限制了检测关联的能力，特别是在分层分析中。在调整了 CBCL 的内化和外化问题后，仅男孩产前 mEP 浓度每增加一倍，ASD 症状就会增加。

结论

有必要在调整其他行为问题的同时进一步调查产妇产前尿中邻苯二甲酸酯代谢物浓度和 ASD 症状。