Prenatal Metal Exposures and Infants’ Developmental Outcomes in a Navajo Population

Sara S. Nozadi, Li Li, Li Luo, Debra MacKenzie, Esther Erdei, Ruofei Du, Carolyn W. Roman, Joseph Hoover, Elena O’Donald, Courtney Burnette and Johnnye Lewis
Additional contact information
Sara S. Nozadi: Health Sciences Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Li Li: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Li Luo: Department of Internal Medicine, UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Debra MacKenzie: Health Sciences Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Esther Erdei: Health Sciences Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Ruofei Du: Department of Biostatistics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA
Carolyn W. Roman: Health Sciences Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Joseph Hoover: Social Science and Cultural Studies, Montana State University Billing, Billings, MT 59101, USA
Elena O’Donald: Health Sciences Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Courtney Burnette: Munroe-Meyer Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Services, Omaha, NE 68106, USA
Johnnye Lewis: Health Sciences Center, College of Pharmacy, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 19, issue 1, 1-24

Abstract: Early-life exposure to environmental toxicants can have detrimental effects on children’s neurodevelopment. In the current study, we employed a causal modeling framework to examine the direct effect of specific maternal prenatal exposures on infants’ neurodevelopment in the context of co-occurring metals. Maternal metal exposure and select micronutrients’ concentrations were assessed using samples collected at the time of delivery from mothers living across Navajo Nation with community exposure to metal mixtures originating from abandoned uranium mines. Infants’ development across five domains was measured at ages 10 to 13 months using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire Inventory (ASQ:I), an early developmental screener. After adjusting for effects of other confounding metals and demographic variables, prenatal exposure to lead, arsenic, antimony, barium, copper, and molybdenum predicted deficits in at least one of the ASQ:I domain scores. Strontium, tungsten, and thallium were positively associated with several aspects of infants’ development. Mothers with lower socioeconomic status (SES) had higher lead, cesium, and thallium exposures compared to mothers from high SES backgrounds. These mothers also had infants with lower scores across various developmental domains. The current study has many strengths including its focus on neurodevelopmental outcomes during infancy, an understudied developmental period, and the use of a novel analytical method to control for the effects of co-occurring metals while examining the effect of each metal on neurodevelopmental outcomes. Yet, future examination of how the effects of prenatal exposure on neurodevelopmental outcomes unfold over time while considering all potential interactions among metals and micronutrients is warranted.

Keywords: developmental outcomes; metal exposure; environmental exposure; Navajo Nation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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