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PCB, DIOXIN EXPOSURE LINKED TO ALTERED PLAY BEHAVIOR
Prenatal exposure to PCBs and dioxins may alter children's innate
preferences for masculine or feminine play behavior, according to a new
Dutch study. These chemicals are believed to be "endocrine disruptors"
that modulate the effects of steroid hormones
(see related articles in this issue, Crime Times, 2002, Vol. 8, No. 4, Pages 2 & 3 and Crime Times, 2002, Vol. 8, No. 4, Page 6).
Hestien J. I. Vreugdenhil and colleagues evaluated the play behavior
of 207 young children who are part of a long-term study on the effects of
PCBs and dioxins. Using the Pre-School Activity Inventory (PSAI), the
researchers categorized the children's play behaviors as masculine or
feminine, and also calculated a "composite" score (defined as the
difference between the feminine and masculine scores, with a negative
score implying masculine behavior and a positive score feminine
behavior). In addition, they analyzed data on the children's exposure to
PCBs and dioxins using measurements from maternal and cord plasma
and breast milk.
"In boys," the researchers report, "higher prenatal PCB levels were
related with less masculinized play... whereas in girls higher PCB levels
were associated with more masculinized play." In addition, they say,
higher prenatal dioxin exposure was associated with more feminized play
in both boys and girls.
Breastfed children, who had more post-natal exposure to PCBs and
dioxins than bottle-fed children, did not show behavioral changes. This
suggests, the researchers say, that PCBs and dioxins may disrupt
hormones associated with childhood play behavior early during fetal
development.
Their results, the researchers conclude, indicate that behavioral
changes may occur as a result of prenatal steroid hormone imbalances
caused by exposure to environmental levels of PCBs, dioxins, and other
organochlorine compounds.
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"Effects of perinatal exposure to PCBs and dioxins on play behavior
in Dutch children at school age," Hestien J. I. Vreugdenhil, Froukje M.
E. Slijper, Paul G. H. Mulder, and Nynke Weisglas-Kuperus,
Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 110, No. 10, October
2002. Address: Hestien J. I. Vreugdenhil, Dept. of Pediatrics, Division of
Neonatology, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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