Associations between prenatal exposure to environmental phenols and child neurodevelopment at two years of age in a South African birth cohort

Across all methods, we found no association between individual phenol exposures or the joint exposure mixture with the cognitive score. Prenatal tobacco exposure modified the association between pentachlorophenol (PCP) and cognitive neurodevelopment (interaction p-value = 0.012), with higher PCP concentrations associated with lower cognitive scores among non-smokers (beta = - 2.17; 95% CI: -3.83, -0.51). Sex modified the association between bisphenol A (BPA) and cognitive neurodevelopment (interaction p-value = 0.021), with males having a significant adverse association (beta = -1.39; 95% CI: -2.54, -0.23). SES modified the association between bisphenol S (BPS) and cognitive neurodevelopment (interaction p-value = 0.003), with individuals of moderate-high SES having a significant adverse association (beta = -1.84; 95% CI: -3.26, 0.06) CONCLUSION: While we found no main effects of prenatal phenol exposure on cognitive neurodevelopment, the associations with PCP, BPA, and BPS were more pronounced among certain subgroups.