Gestational Exposure to Phthalates and Social Responsiveness Scores in Children Using Quantile Regression: The EARLI and HOME Studies

Marisa A. Patti, Craig Newschaffer, Melissa Eliot, Ghassan B. Hamra, Aimin Chen, Lisa A. Croen, M. Daniele Fallin, Irva Hertz-Picciotto, Geetika Kalloo, Jane C. Khoury, Bruce P. Lanphear, Kristen Lyall, Kimberly Yolton and Joseph M. Braun
Additional contact information
Marisa A. Patti: Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
Craig Newschaffer: A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Melissa Eliot: Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
Ghassan B. Hamra: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Aimin Chen: Department of Biostatistics Epidemiology and Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Lisa A. Croen: Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA 94612, USA
M. Daniele Fallin: Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Irva Hertz-Picciotto: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Geetika Kalloo: HealthCore Inc., Wilmington, DE 19801, USA
Jane C. Khoury: Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
Bruce P. Lanphear: Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Kristen Lyall: A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Kimberly Yolton: Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, OH 45267, USA
Joseph M. Braun: Department of Epidemiology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: Linear regression is often used to estimate associations between chemical exposures and neurodevelopment at the mean of the outcome. However, the potential effect of chemicals may be greater among individuals at the ‘tails’ of outcome distributions. Here, we investigated distributional effects on the associations between gestational phthalate exposure and child Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)-related behaviors using quantile regression. We harmonized data from the Early Autism Risk Longitudinal Investigation (EARLI) ( n = 140) Study, an enriched-risk cohort of mothers who had a child with ASD, and the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Environment (HOME) Study ( n = 276), a general population cohort. We measured concentrations of 9 phthalate metabolites in urine samples collected twice during pregnancy. Caregivers reported children’s ASD-related behaviors using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) at age 3–8 years; higher scores indicate more ASD-related behaviors. In EARLI, associations between phthalate concentrations and SRS scores were predominately inverse or null across SRS score quantiles. In HOME, positive associations of mono-n-butyl phthalate, monobenzyl phthalate, mono-isobutyl phthalate, and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate concentrations with SRS scores increased in strength from the median to 95th percentile of SRS scores. These results suggest associations between phthalate concentrations and SRS scores may be stronger in individuals with higher SRS scores.

Keywords: phthalates; prenatal; endocrine-disrupting chemicals; neurodevelopment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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