Methyl Mercury Effects on Adolescent Development

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案是项目#5-R01ES08442的竞争性更新，题为甲基汞的发育毒性，测试儿童不良发育结果与食用高鱼类饮食中甲基汞（MeHg）暴露相关的假设。自1989年以来，塞舌尔儿童发展研究（SCDS）一直在跟踪一组711名儿童，这些儿童的母亲在怀孕期间平均每周食用12次鱼粉。孩子们现在都是青少年了。食用鱼类而接触甲基汞是否会对儿童和青少年发育产生不利影响，这一问题已引起公众日益关注。对产前暴露的强调留下了几个重要的科学问题尚未解决。甲基汞的暴露不会在出生时停止，但我们对出生后因食用鱼类而摄入甲基汞的长期影响知之甚少。此外，关于产前和产后联合暴露于甲基汞对长期结果的影响几乎一无所知。目前的建议旨在确定产前和产后联合暴露的后果，特别是长期或延迟的影响，这些影响可能随着儿童的成熟而出现。我们将研究三个主要发展领域的功能：复杂认知，感觉和神经运动功能，以及青少年的社会行为结果。SCDS队列将在他们15岁时进行一次检查，在他们17岁时进行第二次检查，使用心理和神经学测试和调查相结合的方法。通过在入组时收集的母亲头发的冷蒸汽原子吸收来确定产前甲基汞暴露。我们将继续在每次访问时收集儿童头发（就像过去五次访问时一样），以估计各年龄段的平均产后暴露量和最近的暴露量。多元回归分析将用于评估产前和产后暴露与每个终点之间的关系。如果我们在青春期发现甲基汞的延迟神经毒性作用，就需要对我们如何解释产前和产后接触甲基汞与后来健康后果轨迹之间的关系进行实质性甚至根本的修改。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is a competing renewal of Project #5-R01ES08442, entitled Developmental Toxicity of Methyl Mercury, testing the hypothesis that adverse developmental outcomes in children are associated with exposure to methyl mercury (MeHg) from consumption of a diet high in fish. Since 1989, the Seychelles Child Development Study (SCDS) has been following a cohort of 711 children born to mothers who consumed an average of 12 fishmeals per week during pregnancy. The children are now adolescents. The question of whether exposure to MeHg from fish consumption adversely affects child and adolescent development has aroused deepening public concern. The emphasis on prenatal exposures has left several important scientific questions unresolved. Exposure does not cease at birth, yet we know little about the long-term effects of postnatal dietary exposure to MeHg from fish consumption. Also, almost nothing is known about the contributions to long-term outcomes of combined prenatal and postnatal exposure to MeHg. The current proposal aims to determine the consequences of combined prenatal and postnatal exposure especially for long-term or delayed effects that might appear as the children mature. We will examine functions within three major developmental domains: complex cognition, sensory and neuromotor functions, and social behavioral outcomes in adolescence. The SCDS cohort will be examine once when they are 15 years old and the second when they are 17 years using a combination of psychological and neurological tests and surveys. Prenatal exposure to MeHg was determined by cold vapor atomic absorption from maternal hair collected at enrollment. We will continue to collect child hair at each visit (as has occurred for each of the past five visits) to estimate both average postnatal exposure across ages, and recent exposure. Multiple regression analyses will be used to assess associations between prenatal and postnatal exposure and each endpoint. If we find delayed neurotoxic effects of MeHg in adolescence, substantial or even radical modifications would be required in how we interpret associations between prenatal and postnatal exposure to MeHg and the trajectory of later health consequences.