This was just posted on the Environmental News Service website
http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2002/2002-10-07-09.asp and for once breastfeeding
wasn't implicated.

Kathleen Fallon Pasakarnis, M.Ed., IBCLC



PCB Exposure in Womb May Affect Behavior

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, North Carolina, October 7, 2002

(ENS)- Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins can
influence play behaviors that reflect gender differences, a new study
suggests.

The Dutch study has been tracking various impacts of exposure to these
toxicants on a group of children since 1990. It appears today in
"Environmental Health Perspectives," the journal of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences, part of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.

"Higher prenatal exposure to PCBs was associated with less masculinized play
behavior in boys and more masculinized play behavior in girls. In boys as
well as in girls, higher prenatal dioxin levels were associated with more
feminized play behavior," the study's authors wrote. "We therefore suggest
that these results may indicate behavioral effects of steroid hormone
imbalances early in development related to prenatal exposure to PCBs and
dioxins, their metabolites, and/or related compounds."

In the latest leg of the study, 189 children with an average age of 7.5 years
were evaluated using the Pre-School Activities Inventory, a questionnaire
that asks parents 24 questions about how their children prefer to play,
including types of toys, activities and interests.

The children were evaluated based on their parents' answers to the questions
on the inventory. Representative questions include whether a child prefers
playing with tools versus playing with dolls, taking care of babies versus
climbing, and avoiding dirt versus taking risks.

These data were then cross referenced with data on each child's exposure to
four PCBs and 17 dioxins in the umbilical cord blood and the mother's blood
and breast milk. The researchers also evaluated which children were breastfed
and which children were formula fed.

Breastfeeding was not associated with behavioral changes, suggesting that
PCBs and dioxins may act to disrupt hormones related to childhood play
behavior during fetal development.

This is the first human behavioral study to show the effects of PCB and
dioxin exposure on behavior that reflects marked gender differences,
according to the authors. Gender specific effects of background prenatal
studies have not been reported in prior human PCB studies. The authors plan
to continue to evaluate the study participants to assess potential
implications on later development.

The study team was headed by Hestien J. I. Vreugdenhil of Erasmus University
and Sophia Children's Hospital of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. More
information is available at: http://www.ehponline.org/







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