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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Manganese exposure from drinking water and children's classroom behavior in Bangladesh.

Authors: Khan, Khalid; Factor-Litvak, Pam; Wasserman, Gail A; Liu, Xinhua; Ahmed, Ershad; Parvez, Faruque; Slavkovich, Vesna; Levy, Diane; Mey, Jacob; van Geen, Alexander; Graziano, Joseph H

Published In Environ Health Perspect, (2011 Oct)

Abstract: Evidence of neurological, cognitive, and neuropsychological effects of manganese (Mn) exposure from drinking water (WMn) in children has generated widespread public health concern. At elevated exposures, Mn has been associated with increased levels of externalizing behaviors, including irritability, aggression, and impulsivity. Little is known about potential effects at lower exposures, especially in children. Moreover, little is known regarding potential interactions between exposure to Mn and other metals, especially arsenic (As).We conducted a cross-sectional study of 201 children to investigate associations of Mn and As in tube well water with classroom behavior among elementary school children, 8-11 years of age, in Araihazar, Bangladesh.Data on exposures and behavioral outcomes were collected from the participants at the baseline of an ongoing longitudinal study of child intelligence. Study children were rated by their school teachers on externalizing and internalizing items of classroom behavior using the standardized Child Behavior Checklist-Teacher's Report Form (CBCL-TRF).Log-transformed WMn was positively and significantly associated with TRF internalizing [estimated ýý = 0.82; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.08-1.56; p = 0.03], TRF externalizing (estimated ýý = 2.59; 95% CI, 0.81-4.37; p =0.004), and TRF total scores (estimated ýý = 3.35; 95% CI, 0.86-5.83; p = 0.008) in models that adjusted for log-transformed water arsenic (WAs) and sociodemographic covariates. We also observed a positive monotonic dose-response relationship between WMn and TRF externalizing and TRF total scores among the participants of the study. We did not find any significant associations between WAs and various scales of TRF scores.These observations reinforce the growing concern regarding the neurotoxicologic effects of WMn in children.

PubMed ID: 21493178 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Bangladesh; Child; Child Behavior/drug effects*; Drinking Water/adverse effects*; Female; Humans; Male; Manganese/toxicity*; Water Pollutants/toxicity*

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