Associations of prenatal maternal urinary concentrations of triclosan and benzophenone-3 with cognition in 7.5-month-old infants

Authors: CRAGOE, NICHOLAS - University Of Illinois; SPROWLES, JENNA - Icf International; WOODBURY, MEGAN - Northeastern University; MUSAAD, SALMA - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC); ENRIGHT, ELIZABETH - Non ARS Employee; AGUIAR, ANDREA - University Of Illinois; SCHANTZ, SUSAN - University Of Illinois

Submitted to: Environmental Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/9/2024
Publication Date: 9/10/2024
Citation: Cragoe, N., Sprowles, J., Woodbury, M.L., Musaad, S., Enright, E., Aguiar, A., Schantz, S.L. 2024. Associations of prenatal maternal urinary concentrations of triclosan and benzophenone-3 with cognition in 7.5-month-old infants. Environmental Research. 263(Pt 1). Article 119975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.119975.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.119975

Interpretive Summary: Chemicals called endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can harm health, especially when exposure happens before birth. This study looked at two common EDCs during pregnancy, benzophenone-3 (BP-3), a common ingredient in sunscreen and cosmetics, and triclosan (TCS), a common ingredient in disinfectants and soaps. Researchers used data from the Illinois Kids Development Study to understand their effects on 7.5 months old infants' ability to process and think about the information around them (cognition). BP-3 and TCS levels in urine samples from pregnant women were measured and cognition in 310 infants was assesssed using a visual recognition memory task. This task measures how long it takes an infant to look at and familiarize themselves with a visual stimulus, and their ability to differentiate between the familiar and a new stimulus after the initial familiarization. Results show that higher BP-3 exposure was linked to slower information processing in infants. Higher TCS exposure was linked to poorer attention in infants. These effects were more noticeable in male infants. This study concluded prenatal exposure to TCS may lead to poorer attention in infants, while BP-3 might slow down information processing, especially in boys.

Technical Abstract: Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) have been linked to adverse health outcomes and prenatal exposure is known to impact infant and child development. However, few studies have assessed early developmental consequences of prenatal exposure to two common phenolic compounds, benzophenone-3 (BP-3) and triclosan (TCS). We evaluated the relationship of prenatal exposure to BP-3 and TCS with infant cognition at 7.5 months via performance on a visual recognition memory (VRM) task. Drawing from the Illinois Kids Development Study (IKIDS) cohort, prenatal exposure to BP-3 and TCS was assessed in pools of five urine samples collected from each woman across pregnancy. Cognition was measured in 310 infants using a VRM task assessing information processing speed, attention, and recognition memory through infrared eye-tracking. Generalized linear regression estimated exposure-outcome associations, followed by stratification to investigate modification of associations by infant sex and stimulus set. Sampled mothers were more likely to be white, college educated, and middle or high income relative to the US population. Mean chemical exposures were significantly higher than those of adult women in the NHANES cohort. In models adjusted for income, gestational age at birth, and testing age, prenatal BP-3 exposure was associated with an increase in run duration (average time spent looking at the stimuli before looking away) (Beta=0.0011, CI -0.0001:0.0022), indicating slower information processing speed, while TCS was associated with significantly longer time to familiarization (time to accrue a total of 20 seconds of looking time to the stimuli) (Beta=0.0686, CI 0.0203:0.1168, p<0.01), indicating poorer attention. Stratum-specific analyses isolated both effects to male infants who viewed the second of two stimulus sets. Higher prenatal exposure to triclosan was associated with poorer attention in infancy, while benzophenone-3 may be associated with slower information processing speed, particularly among males.