Integrating Data Across Multiple Sites in the Northeastern United States to Examine Associations between a Prenatal Metal Mixture and Child Cognition

Maria José Rosa*, Nicolo Foppa Pedretti, Brandon Goldson, Nicole Mathews, Francheska Merced-Nieves, Naim Xhani, Michelle Bosquet Enlow, Richard Gershon, Emily Ho, Kathi Huddleston, Robert O. Wright, Rosalind J. Wright, Elena Colicino

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We applied a novel hierarchical Bayesian weighted quantile sum (HBWQS) regression to combine data across 3 study sites to examine associations between prenatal exposure to metals and cognitive functioning in childhood. Data from 326 mother-child dyads enrolled in an ongoing cohort study, the Programming of Intergenerational Stress Mechanisms (PRISM) Study, based in New York, New York (recruitment in 2013-2020) and Boston, Massachusetts (recruitment 2011-2013), and the First Thousand Days of Life (FTDL) cohort study (recruitment 2012-2019), based in northern Virginia, were used. Arsenic, cadmium, manganese, lead, and antimony were measured in urine collected during pregnancy. Cognitive functioning was assessed in children aged 3-11 years using the National Institutes of Health Toolbox Cognition Battery. The HBWQS regression showed a negative association between the urinary metal mixture and the Cognition Early Childhood Composite Score in the PRISM New York City (β = -3.67, 95% credible interval (CrI): -7.61, -0.01) and FTDL (β = -3.76, 95% CrI: -7.66, -0.24) samples, with a similar trend in the PRISM Boston sample (β = -3.24, 95% CrI: -6.77, 0.144). We did not detect these associations in traditionally pooled models. HBWQS regression allowed us to account for site heterogeneity and detect associations between prenatal metal-mixture exposure and cognitive outcomes in childhood. Given the ubiquity of metals exposure, interventions aimed at reducing prenatal exposure may improve cognitive outcomes in children. This article is part of a Special Collection on Environmental Epidemiology.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)606-616
Number of pages11
JournalAmerican journal of epidemiology
Volume193
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2024

Keywords

  • childhood
  • cognition
  • metals
  • mixtures
  • prenatal exposure

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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