Early life phthalate exposure impacts gray matter and white matter volume in infants and young children.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Prenatal phthalate exposure is associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, yet data on impacts of early life exposure remains limited. We investigated phthalate and replacement plasticizer exposures from 2 weeks to 7 years of age in relation to brain anatomical attributes, using serial structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI).

Material and methods

Children were enrolled after birth into the UNC Baby Connectome Project, a longitudinal neuroimaging study (North Carolina, USA; 2017-2020). Urine samples (n = 406) were collected at each visit and analyzed for 17 phthalate and replacement plasticizer metabolites. Among 157 children contributing 369 sMRIs, we calculated metabolite-specific average exposures across each individual's urine samples and used line

SUBMITTER: Werder EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12452038 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature