Learning Activity 3.1 – Sadie Thompson

Learning Activity 3.1

Unit 3 Learning Activities

The article I have chose can be found at: http://ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2145/retrieve/pii/S1438463914000947

Article title

The influence of low level pre- and perinatal exposure to PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and lead on attention performance and attention-related behavior among German school-aged children.

Authors

Julia Neugebauer, (Department of Hygiene, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany)
Jürgen Wittsiepe, (Department of Hygiene, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany)
Monika Kasper-Sonnenberg, (Department of Hygiene, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany)
Nina Schöneck, (Department of Developmental Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany)
Axel Schölmerich, (Department of Developmental Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany)
Michael Wilhelm, (Department of Hygiene, Social and Environmental Medicine, Ruhr-University Bochum, Universitätsstraße 150, D-44801 Bochum, Germany)

Source

Introduction

ADHD is a diagnosed at a very high rate. This study investigates the relationship between exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs and lead on attention performance in children. It is the first study to the author’s knowledge of pre-natal exposure to PCDD/Fs and PCBs and consequently how it impacts the exposed children with respect to attention performance in school. Exposure to to these neurotoxicants are thought to be contributing elements to the diagnoses of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Methods

The study measured blood levels of PCDD/Fs, PCBs and lead in expecting mothers during their 32nd week of pregnancy. They measured the levels of PCDD/Fs, PCBs and lead in the breast milk of the mothers 2 weeks post-partum. 117 school-age children with an average age of 8.5 participated in the KITAP testing. 114 school-age children with an average age of 9.5 completed the computer FBB-ADHS testing. All children in the study were pre-screened using the Wechsler Intelligence scale for children. One child was eliminated that exhibited an intelligence quotient of less than 80. School-aged children were tested for attention span using a questionnaire that was filled out by parents and through a computer-based test battery of attention performance (KITAP). Researchers used a multiple regression analysis to determine if exposure to these compounds influenced attention spans.

Results

The results showed that an increased exposure to PCDD/F and PCB did not significantly impact the ADHD-related behaviours. They found that ADHD-related behaviours were affected by prenatal lead exposure. Increasing lead exposure, resulted in increasing ADHD related behaviours.

Conclusion

The study highlights the influence of prenatal PCDD/F, PCB and lead exposure on behaviours that are associated with ADHD. Their studies resulted in the conclusion that these exposures can influence or increase the ADHD behaviours in young and otherwise healthy children. Given that the sample size was somewhat small it is recommended that a longer postnatal study is conducted to determine the effect of exposure to neurotoxicants over a longer period of time.

Personal comment

This research proves that environmental contaminants can be a factor in affecting the development of healthy children. I was not aware that women and children could unknowingly be exposed to a neurotoxicant, such as lead. In our everyday life a person just assumes that the food and water ingested is safe and free of harmful chemicals. In selecting my research topic, I was initially interested in the influence of diet, such as nutritional factors, the amount of processed food consumed, or chemical additives ingested through dietary intake, that may negatively impact a child’s behaviour. I find myself reflecting on all of the possible factors other than diet and nutrition that can play a role in the healthy development of children. I feel that there are many more factors involved in determining the cause of attention-related learning disorders in children that just diet. The incidence of environmental organic pollutants and their impact on attention-related disorders in children is an evolving area of research.

References

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Neugebauer, J., Wittsiepe, J., Kasper-Sonnenberg, M., Schöneck, N., Schölmerich, A., & Wilhelm, M. (2015). The influence of low-level pre- and perinatal exposure to PCDD/Fs, PCBs, and lead on attention performance and attention-related behavior among German school-aged children: Results from the Duisburg Birth Cohort Study. International Journal Of Hygiene & Environmental Health, 218(1), 153-162. doi:10.1016/j.ijheh.2014.09.005