Exposure to Hexachlorobenzene during Pregnancy and Children's Social Behavior at 4 Years of Age Núria Ribas-Fitó,1 Maties Torrent,2 Daniel Carrizo,3 Jordi Júlvez,1 Joan O. Grimalt,3 and Jordi Sunyer1,4 1Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology, Institut Municipal Investigació Mèdica (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain; 2Àrea de Salut de Menorca, IB-SALUT, Menorca, Spain; 3Department of Environmental Chemistry; IIQAB-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain; 4Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Abstract Background: Hexachlorobenzene (HCB) is an organochlorine chemical that has been used in agriculture and industrial processes. Behavioral impairment after HCB exposure has been described in animal models, but little information is available in humans. Objectives: Our goal was to study the association of prenatal exposure to HCB with the social behavior of preschool children. Methods: Two birth cohorts in Ribera d'Ebre and Menorca (Spain) were set up between 1997 and 1999 (n = 475) . The California Preschool Social Competence Scale and the Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were scored by each 4-year-old child's teacher. Organochlorine compounds were measured in cord serum. Children's diet and parental sociodemographic information were obtained through questionnaire. Results: Children with concentrations of HCB > 1.5 ng/mL at birth had a statistically significant increased risk of having poor Social Competence [relative risk (RR) = 4.04 ; 95% confidence interval (CI) , 1.76–9.58] and ADHD (RR = 2.71 ; 95% CI, 1.05–6.96) scores. No association was found between HCB and the cognitive and psychomotor performance of these children. Conclusions: Prenatal exposure to current concentrations of HCB in Spain is associated with a decrease in the behavioral competence at preschool ages. These results should be considered when evaluating the potential neurotoxicologic effects of HCB. Key words: behavior, children, cord serum, HCB, hexachlorobenzene, hyperactivity, prenatal exposure, social competence. Environ Health Perspect 115:447–450 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.9314 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 6 November 2006] Address correspondence to N. Ribas-Fitó, Center for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) , Institut Municipal Investigació Mèdica (IMIM) , C. Doctor Aiguader 80, 08003 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Telephone: +34 93 221 1009. Fax: +34 93 221 6448. E-mail: nribas@imim.es We thank all the study participants for their generous collaboration. We are also indebted to C. Mazón, R.M. Sabaté, and M.V. Iturriaga for their assistance in contacting the families and administering the questionnaires. This study was funded by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS-97/1102, FIS-PI041436) , Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red RCESP C03/09 and Red INMA G03/176) , Fundació "la Caixa" (97/009-00 and 00/077-00) , and the Generalitat de Catalunya-CIRIT (1999SGR 00241) . The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 4 May 2006 ; accepted 6 November 2006. The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |