TY - JOUR
T1 - Polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) exposure in children
T2 - Possible associations with cardiovascular and psychological functions
AU - Gump, Brooks B.
AU - Yun, Sehun
AU - Kannan, Kurunthachalam
N1 - Funding Information:
Grant ES015619 from the National Institutes of Health as well as funding from SUNY Oswego and Syracuse University supported this work. SUNY Oswego׳s Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved this research and all participants provided assent and corresponding parents provided consent.
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - Background: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) have been used widely in consumer products and are currently found at detectable levels in the blood of humans and animals across the globe. In stark contrast to this widespread exposure to PBDEs, there is relatively little research on potential adverse health effects of exposure of children to these chemicals. Objectives: We performed this cross-sectional study to determine if blood PBDE levels (for 4 congeners) are associated with cardiovascular stress responses and psychological states in children. Methods: Levels of 4 PBDE congeners (BDE-28, -47, -99, and -100) in whole blood were measured in children (N=43). These levels were analyzed in relation to cardiovascular disease risk factors, including cardiovascular responses to acute stress and relevant psychological variables, namely, hostility and depression. Results: Higher levels of blood PBDEs were associated with significantly greater sympathetic activation during acute psychological stress and greater anger, as evidenced by significant associations with 3 different measures of this psychological variable. Conclusions: This study suggests an association between PBDE exposure and children[U+05F3]s cardiovascular responses to stress as well as parental and self-reported anger in the child. These variables are particularly important as they may be of potential relevance to the future development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although intriguing, there is a need for further investigation and replication with a larger sample of children.
AB - Background: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) have been used widely in consumer products and are currently found at detectable levels in the blood of humans and animals across the globe. In stark contrast to this widespread exposure to PBDEs, there is relatively little research on potential adverse health effects of exposure of children to these chemicals. Objectives: We performed this cross-sectional study to determine if blood PBDE levels (for 4 congeners) are associated with cardiovascular stress responses and psychological states in children. Methods: Levels of 4 PBDE congeners (BDE-28, -47, -99, and -100) in whole blood were measured in children (N=43). These levels were analyzed in relation to cardiovascular disease risk factors, including cardiovascular responses to acute stress and relevant psychological variables, namely, hostility and depression. Results: Higher levels of blood PBDEs were associated with significantly greater sympathetic activation during acute psychological stress and greater anger, as evidenced by significant associations with 3 different measures of this psychological variable. Conclusions: This study suggests an association between PBDE exposure and children[U+05F3]s cardiovascular responses to stress as well as parental and self-reported anger in the child. These variables are particularly important as they may be of potential relevance to the future development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Although intriguing, there is a need for further investigation and replication with a larger sample of children.
KW - Children
KW - Hostility
KW - PBDE
KW - Polybrominated diphenyl ether
KW - Stress
KW - Sympathetic reactivity
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2014.04.009
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2014.04.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 24834818
AN - SCOPUS:84900033301
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 132
SP - 244
EP - 250
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
ER -