Methyl Mercury Effects on Adolescent Development

本提案是项目#5-R01ES08442的竞争性更新，题为甲基的发育毒性 水星，测试儿童不良发育结果与 因食用富含鱼类的饮食而暴露于甲基汞(MeHg)。自1989年以来，塞舌尔 儿童发展研究(SCDS)一直在跟踪调查711名母亲所生的孩子 怀孕期间平均每周食用12份鱼粉。孩子们现在都是青少年了。这个 食用鱼类接触甲基汞是否会对儿童和青少年产生不利影响 发展引起了公众越来越多的关注。对产前暴露的重视已经留下了几个 重要的科学问题尚未解决。接触并不会在出生时停止，但我们对长期的- 鱼摄入甲基汞对出生后饮食的长期影响。此外，几乎什么都不知道 关于产前和产后联合暴露于甲基汞对长期结果的贡献。这个 目前的提案旨在确定产前和产后联合接触的后果，特别是 对于儿童成熟后可能出现的长期或延迟影响。我们将研究 三个主要的发展领域：复杂认知，感觉和神经运动功能，以及社交- 青春期的行为结果。SCDS队列将在他们15岁时接受一次检查， 第二个是在他们17岁的时候，使用心理和神经测试和调查相结合的方法。 采用冷原子吸收法测定孕妇毛发中甲基汞的产前暴露 招生。我们会继续在每次探访时收集儿童毛发(一如过去五次探访的做法) 估计不同年龄段的出生后平均暴露水平和最近暴露水平。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联。如果我们发现 甲基汞在青春期的延迟神经毒性效应，实质性的甚至是激进的修改将是 我们如何解释出生前和出生后接触甲基汞与轨迹之间的联系所需的 对后来的健康后果的担忧。

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 fish-meals 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.