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. 2024 Jan 1;240(Pt 1):117451.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.117451. Epub 2023 Oct 21.

Organophosphate ester flame retardants and plasticizers in house dust and mental health outcomes among Canadian mothers: A nested prospective cohort study in CHILD

Stephanie A Foster  1 , Molly L Kile  2 , Perry Hystad  3 , Miriam L Diamond  4 , Liisa M Jantunen  5 , Piush J Mandhane  6 , Theo J Moraes  7 , Garthika Navaranjan  8 , James A Scott  9 , Elinor Simons  10 , Padmaja Subbarao  11 , Tim K Takaro  12 , Stuart E Turvey  13 , Jeffrey R Brook  14
Affiliations

Organophosphate ester flame retardants and plasticizers in house dust and mental health outcomes among Canadian mothers: A nested prospective cohort study in CHILD

Stephanie A Foster et al. Environ Res. .

Abstract

Organophosphate ester flame retardants and plasticizers (OPEs) are common exposures in modern built environments. Toxicological models report that some OPEs reduce dopamine and serotonin in the brain. Deficiencies in these neurotransmitters are associated with anxiety and depression. We hypothesized that exposure to higher concentrations of OPEs in house dust would be associated with a greater risk of depression and stress in mothers across the prenatal and postpartum periods. We conducted a nested prospective cohort study using data collected on mothers (n = 718) in the CHILD Cohort Study, a longitudinal multi-city Canadian birth cohort (2008-2012). OPEs were measured in house dust sampled at 3-4 months postpartum. Maternal depression and stress were measured at 18 and 36 weeks gestation and 6 months and 1 year postpartum using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies for Depression Scale (CES-D) and Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). We used linear mixed models to examine the association between a summed Z-Score OPE index and continuous depression and stress scores. In adjusted models, one standard deviation increase in the OPE Z-score index was associated with a 0.07-point (95% CI: 0.01, 0.13) increase in PSS score. OPEs were not associated with log-transformed CES-D (β: 0.63%, 95% CI: -0.18%, 1.46%). The effect of OPEs on PSS score was strongest at 36 weeks gestation and weakest at 1 year postpartum. We observed small increases in maternal perceived stress levels, but not depression, with increasing OPEs measured in house dust during the prenatal and early postpartum period in this cohort of Canadian women. Given the prevalence of prenatal and postpartum anxiety and the ubiquity of OPE exposures, additional research is warranted to understand if these chemicals affect maternal mental health.

Keywords: Depression; Maternal exposure; OPE; OPFR; Pregnancy; Stress.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Spearman correlation coefficients heat map describing the relationship between individual organophosphate esters compounds (OPEs). See Table 2 and Table S2 for key to compound acronyms and full names, respectively.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Modeled linear associations between summed organophosphate ester compound (OPE) Z-scores measured in house dust at 3 months postpartum and maternal Perceived Stress Scale scores at four timepoints, including two observed during pregnancy (18 and 36 weeks gestation) and two in the postpartum period (6 month and 1 year). Slopes adjusted for study center, maternal age, annual household income, ethnicity, marital status, prenatal smoking, depression medication use, season of dust collection, annual average PM2.5, annual average NO2, and annual 8-hour averaged O3 (ppb).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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