NEUROLOGICAL CONDITION IN 42-MONTH-OLD CHILDREN IN RELATION TO PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL EXPOSURE TO POLYCHLORINATED-BIPHENYLS AND DIOXINS

Adverse neurological effects of exposure to PCBs have been found up to 18 months of age. Now we report on the effect of pre-and postnatal ex posure to PCBs and dioxins on the neurological condition at 42 months of age. For this purpose, PCB levels were determined in cord and mater nal plasma, and used as a measure of prenatal exposure. Breast milk wa s analyzed for PCBs and dioxins. In addition, PCBs were determined in plasma sampled from the child at 42 months of age. We evaluated the ne urological condition of 394 children using the Touwen/Hempel method. A fter adjustment for covariates, neither prenatal PCB exposure nor post natal exposure to PCBs and dioxins was found to be related to the neur ological condition at 42 months of age. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Irel and Ltd.