Relationship between Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon–DNA Adducts, Environmental Tobacco Smoke, and Child Development in the World Trade Center Cohort

BACKGROUND: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), are air pollutants released by the World Trade Center (WTC) fires and urban combustion sources. BaP–DNA adducts provide a measure of PAH-specific genetic damage, which has been associated with increased risk of adverse birth outcomes and cancer. We previously reported that levels of BaP–DNA adducts in maternal and umbilical cord blood obtained at delivery were elevated among subjects who had resided within 1 mile of the WTC site during the month after 9/11; and that elevated blood adducts in combination with in utero exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) were significantly associated with decreased fetal growth. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to assess possible effects of prenatal exposure to WTC pollutants on child development. METHODS: After 11 September 2001, we enrolled a cohort of nonsmoking pregnant women who delivered at three lower Manhattan hospitals. We have followed a subset of children through their third birthdays and measured cognitive and motor development using the Bayley-II Scales of Child Development (BSID-II). RESULTS: In multivariate analyses, we found a significant interaction between cord blood adducts and in utero exposure to ETS on mental development index score at 3 years of age (p = 0.02, n = 98) whereas neither adducts nor ETS alone was a significant predictor of (BSID-II) cognitive development. CONCLUSION: Although limited by small numbers, these results suggest that exposure to elevated levels of PAHs in conjunction with prenatal ETS exposure may have contributed to a modest reduction in cognitive development among cohort children.