Relationship between maternal PAHs exposure during pregnancy and neonatal neurobehavioral function / 中国职业医学

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between maternal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons( PAHs) exposure during pregnancy and neonatal neurobehavioral development. METHODS: A total of 296 pairs of pregnant women and their newborns in hospital A in Changzhi City and hospital B in Taiyuan City were selected as research subjects by convenience sampling method. The air PAHs levels in these two hospitals were measured using high performance liquid chromatography( HPLC). The pregnant women were investigated by questionnaires. The levels of PAHs metabolites in prenatal 24-hour urine samples were measured as indicators of exposure using HPLC. The pregnant women were divided into PAHs low-,medium-and high-exposure groups based on the 25th and the 75th percentile levels. The neonatal birth weight,head circumference and birth length were measured,and the neonatal neurobehavioral development was measured by neonatal behavioral neurological assessment( NBNA). RESULTS: The median level of total PAHs metabolite in maternal urine was 0. 94 mg/mo L creatinine. The newborn total NBNA scores,behavioral abilities and active muscle tension scores in the PAHs high-exposure group were lower than that of PAHs low-and medium-exposure groups( P < 0. 05). The newborn total NBNA scores and active muscle tension scores in the PAHs medium-exposure group were lower than that of PAHs lowexposure group( P < 0. 05). There was no significant difference in scores of neonatal weight,head circumference,birth length,passive muscular tension,primary reflexes and general reaction among these three groups( P > 0. 05). The multiple stepwise linear regression analysis results showed that the level of PAHs metabolite in maternal urine were negatively correlated with the total NBNA scores,behavioral abilities score,active muscle tension scores and general reaction score( P < 0. 05),and showed no correlation with the neonatal birth weight,head circumference,passive muscular tension score,birth length and primary reflexes scores( P > 0. 05). CONCLUSION: The level of total PAHs metabolites in maternal prenatal urine is associated with neonatal neurobehavioral development. This result indicates that maternal PAHs exposure during pregnancy may have adverse effects on neonatal neurobehavioral development.