Association of early-life exposure to household gas appliances and indoor nitrogen dioxide with cognition and attention behavior in preschoolers

Am J Epidemiol. 2009 Jun 1;169(11):1327-36. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwp067. Epub 2009 Apr 24.

Abstract

The authors investigated the association of early-life exposure to indoor air pollution with neuropsychological development in preschoolers and assessed whether this association differs by glutathione-S-transferase gene (GSTP1) polymorphisms. A prospective, population-based birth cohort was set up in Menorca, Spain, in 1997-1999 (n = 482). Children were assessed for cognitive functioning (McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities) and attention-hyperactivity behaviors (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition) at age 4 years. During the first 3 months of life, information about gas appliances at home and indoor nitrogen dioxide concentration was collected at each participant's home (n = 398, 83%). Genotyping was conducted for the GSTP1 coding variant Ile105Val. Use of gas appliances was inversely associated with cognitive outcomes (beta coefficient for general cognition = -5.10, 95% confidence interval (CI): -9.92, -0.28; odds ratio for inattention symptoms = 3.59, 95% CI: 1.14, 11.33), independent of social class and other confounders. Nitrogen dioxide concentrations were associated with cognitive function (a decrease of 0.27 point per 1 ppb, 95% CI: -0.48, -0.07) and inattention symptoms (odds ratio = 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.12). The deleterious effect of indoor pollution from gas appliances on neuropsychological outcomes was stronger in children with the GSTP1 Val-105 allele. Early-life exposure to air pollution from indoor gas appliances may be negatively associated with neuropsychological development through the first 4 years of life, particularly among genetically susceptible children.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Air Pollution, Indoor / adverse effects*
  • Air Pollution, Indoor / analysis
  • Alleles
  • Attention / drug effects*
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / chemically induced*
  • Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / genetics
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cognition / drug effects*
  • Cognition Disorders / chemically induced*
  • Cognition Disorders / genetics
  • Gases / toxicity*
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Genotype
  • Glutathione Transferase / genetics
  • Household Articles*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Linear Models
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Nitrogen Dioxide / analysis
  • Nitrogen Dioxide / toxicity*
  • Polymorphism, Genetic
  • Prospective Studies
  • Psychometrics
  • Risk Factors
  • Spain
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Substances

  • Gases
  • Glutathione Transferase
  • Nitrogen Dioxide