Fetal Exposure to Air Pollution in Late Pregnancy Significantly Increases ADHD-Risk Behavior in Early Childhood

Binquan Liu, Xinyu Fang, Esben Strodl, Guanhao He, Zengliang Ruan, Ximeng Wang, Li Liu and Weiqing Chen ()
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Binquan Liu: Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210006, China
Xinyu Fang: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei 230032, China
Esben Strodl: School of Psychology and Counselling, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4059, Australia
Guanhao He: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Zengliang Ruan: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Ximeng Wang: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Li Liu: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China
Weiqing Chen: Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510080, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 17, 1-16

Abstract: Background: Air pollution nowadays has seriously threatened the health of the Chinese population, especially in the vulnerable groups of fetuses, infants and toddlers. In particular, the effects of air pollution on children’s neurobehavioral development have attracted widespread attention. Moreover, the early detection of a sensitive period is very important for the precise intervention of the disease. However, such studies focusing on hyperactive behaviors and susceptible window identification are currently lacking in China. Objectives: The study aims to explore the correlation between air pollution exposure and hyperactive behaviors during the early life stage and attempt to identify whether a susceptible exposure window exists that is crucial for further precise intervention. Methods: Based on the Longhua Child Cohort Study, we collected the basic information and hyperactivity index of 26,052 children using a questionnaire conducted from 2015 to 2017, and the Conners’ Parent Rating Scale-revised (CPRS-48) was used to assess hyperactive behaviors. Moreover, the data of air pollution concentration (PM 10 , PM 2.5 , NO 2 , CO, O 3 and SO 2 ) were collected from the monitoring station between 2011 to 2017, and a land-use random forest model was used to evaluate the exposure level of each subject. Furthermore, Distributed lag non-linear models (DLNMs) were applied for statistic analysis. Results: The risk of child hyperactivity was found to be positively associated with early life exposure to PM 10 , PM 2.5 and NO 2 . In particular, for an increase of per 10 µg/m 3 in PM 10 , PM 2.5 and NO 2 exposure concentration during early life, the risk of child hyperactivity increased significantly during the seventh month of pregnancy to the fourth month after birth, with the strongest association in the ninth month of pregnancy (PM 10 : OR = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.016–1.071; PM 2.5 : OR = 1.062, 95% CI: 1.024–1.102; NO 2 : OR = 1.043, 95% CI: 1.016–1.071). However, no significant associations among early life exposure to CO, O 3 and SO 2 and child hyperactive behaviors were observed. Conclusions: Early life exposure to PM 10 , PM 2.5 and NO 2 is associated with an increased risk of child ADHD-like behaviors at the age around 3 years, and the late-prenatal and early postnatal periods might be the susceptible exposure windows.

Keywords: fetal exposure; air pollution; ADHD-like behavior (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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