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Biomedical subjects

W J Rogan

Publications and source records attributed to W J Rogan.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

A 6-year follow-up of behavior and activity disorders in the Taiwan Yu-cheng children.

OBJECTIVES: The relationship of behavior and activity levels to the interval between outbreak and year of birth and to age of children is explored in Taiwanese children exposed in utero to heat-degraded polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)--the Yu-cheng children. Additionally, the relationship of the scores to chemical, physical, and cognitive findings is described. METHODS: With Rutter's Child Behavior Scale A and a modified Werry-Weiss-Peters Activity Scale, 118 Yu-chen children and matched controls were followed biannually from 1985 to 1991. RESULTS: At each year, the Yu-cheng children scored 7% to 43% worse (mean = 23%) than control children on the Rutter scale. At any fixed age, the Yu-cheng children scored 11% to 63% (mean = 28%) worse. The effect for children born later did not differ from that for those born earlier; neither was there any improvement as the children aged. A similar but weaker picture was seen for the activity score. These behavioral findings were not related to physical or cognitive findings or to serum PCB levels. CONCLUSIONS: In utero exposure to heat-degraded PCBs appears to cause mildly disordered behavior and increased activity level; the effect persists over time and is similar in children born up to 6 years after the mothers were exposed.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1993

Breast-feeding and cognitive development.

Eight-hundred fifty-five newborns were enrolled in a prospective study between 1978 and 1982 and then followed through school age. To determine whether the mode of infant feeding affected developmental scores or school grades, prospective data were collected on how the children were fed; 788 of the children had Bayley tests at 6 months, 720 at 12 months, 676 at 18 months and 670 at 2 years. McCarthy testing was done on 645 children at 3 years, 628 at 4 years and 636 at 5 years. Testers were not specifically blind to feeding method. The families provided report cards from grade 3 or higher for 366 children. There were statistically significant but small increases in scores among breast-fed children on at least some subscales of the Bayley and McCarthy at all time points from 2 years through 5 years and slightly higher English grades on report cards in both crude analyses and in multivariate analyses that allowed adjustment for the most plausible confounding variables. We conclude that, in a volunteer, 95% white sample of middle class children, those breast-fed scored slightly better than those bottle fed; the effect is small but still detectable at school age.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1992

Cognitive development of Yu-Cheng ("oil disease") children prenatally exposed to heat-degraded PCBs.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the cognitive development in Taiwanese children who had been exposed prenatally to high levels of heat-degraded polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) with control children who were exposed to background levels. The disorder was called Yu-Cheng, "oil disease," in Taiwan. DESIGN: Matched-pair cohort study. SETTING: Communities in central Taiwan in which there had been a cooking-oil contamination and mass poisoning by heat-degraded PCBs in 1978 through 1979. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred eighteen children born between June 1978 and March 1985 during or after their mothers' consumption of contaminated rice oil; 118 children matched for age, sex, neighborhood, maternal age, and parental education and occupational class; and 15 older siblings of exposed children, born before the poisoning. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Cognitive development measured from 1985 through 1990 using the Chinese versions of the Stanford-Binet test and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revised, RESULTS: The exposed children scored approximately 5 points lower on the Stanford-Binet test at the ages of 4 and 5 years and approximately 5 points lower on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Revised, at the ages of 6 and 7 years. Children born up to 6 years after their mothers' exposure were as affected as children born within a year or two after exposure when examined at 6 and 7 years of age. Older siblings resembled the control children. CONCLUSION: Children prenatally exposed to heat-degraded PCBs had poorer cognitive development than their matched controls. The effect persisted in the children up to the age of 7 years, and children born long after the exposure were still affected.

Child Development↗
PubMed1992

Neurotoxicology of PCBs and related compounds.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are a family of 209 chemicals with two linked phenyl rings and variable chlorination. They are clear oils at room temperature. They were produced from the 1930s until banned in the 1970s because of toxicity and evidence of widespread environmental contamination. They were used mostly as insulators in electrical equipment; their widespread occurrence in the environment is more a consequence of uncontrolled disposal than of deliberate dissemination. In Asia, there have been two outbreaks of poisoning due to cooking oil contaminated by thermally degraded PCBs. Studies in workers exposed chronically to "clean" PCBs, workers exposed acutely to thermally degraded PCBs in clean-up of fires, and adult patients in Asia who ingested contaminated rice oil consistently show slowed nerve conduction and sometimes show headache, lassitude, and other CNS symptoms. In children exposed to background levels in the US, those with the highest transplacental exposure show hypotonia and hyporeflexia at birth and slowed motor development through age two, a defect in visual memory processing at 7 mon, and defects in short term memory at 4 years. Despite the presence of PCBs in breast milk, no association between breast milk exposure and any measured outcome has been seen other than lower activity levels at 4 years among long term breast fed children at the highest PCB levels. In Asia, children who were in utero at or after the 1968 exposure in Japan or the 1979 exposure in Taiwan showed clinically evident developmental delay. In Taiwan, the children were shown to have a variety of ectodermal defects, but the association between these defects and developmental delay was weak.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Humans↗
PubMed1991

Should the presence of carcinogens in breast milk discourage breast feeding?

Pollutant chemicals are commonly found in human milk at levels that would prevent its sale as a commercial food for infants. The chemicals found most commonly are dichlorodiphenyl-dichloroethene, polychlorinated biphenyls, dieldrin, chlordane, heptachlor, and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins. In general, the regulatory levels for these chemicals have been set to prevent cancer in adult humans from lifetime exposure. We compared lives saved in the postneonatal period by breast feeding to the estimated excess cancer deaths attributable to the contaminants in breast milk. The results of this analysis suggest that only extreme levels of contaminants in breast milk represent more of a hazard than failure to breast feed, but clinical considerations in individual cases might override this conclusion. Our analysis depends on assumptions about how the chemicals might cause cancer in humans and on whether breast feeding prevents some postneonatal mortality. Noncarcinogenic hazards from chemical exposure, other hazards from breast feeding such as transmission of viruses, and benefits of breast feeding other than reduction in mortality were not considered.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1991

PCBs, DDE, and child development at 18 and 24 months.

To determine whether perinatal exposure to "background" levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or dichlorodiphenyldichloroethene (DDE) affected child development, we followed a cohort of children through the age of 2 years; 676 were tested at 18 months and 670 at 24 months with the Bayley Scales. Transplacental and cumulative exposures from breast milk to both chemicals were estimated for each child from analyses of breast milk and other samples. Bayley testing was done without knowing the chemical levels. At 18 and 24 months, adjusted scores on the psychomotor scales were 4 to 9 points lower among children in the top fifth percentile of transplacental PCB exposure, significantly so at 24 months. There were no consistent effects apparent from exposure to PCBs through breast milk, nor from DDE exposure. We conclude that there is a small delay in motor maturation attributable to transplacental exposure to PCBs that is still detectable at 24 months. There is no evidence of an effect from the larger but later exposure through breast milk, although effects may emerge as the children age.

Breast Feeding↗
PubMed1991

Effects of perinatal polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene on later development.

OBJECTIVE: Determining whether early developmental effects of perinatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) persist. DESIGN: Cohort followed from birth; ages now 5 1/2 to 10 1/2 years. SETTING: General community. PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer sample of 859 children, of whom 712 had been examined with the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities at 3, 4, or 5 years; 506 sent report cards. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Neither transplacental nor breast-feeding exposure to PCBs or DDE affected McCarthy scores at 3, 4, or 5 years. There was no statistically significant relationship between poorer grades and PCB or DDE exposure by either route. CONCLUSIONS: The deficits seen in these children on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development through 2 years of age are no longer apparent.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1990

Dermatological findings in children exposed transplacentally to heat-degraded polychlorinated biphenyls in Taiwan.

We studied 128 children who were transplacentally exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls and dibenzofurans in Taiwan, their parents and siblings who were directly exposed, and 115 control children. Direct exposure of the mothers stopped in 1979 and the children were born as late as 1985. At birth, exposed children had increased rates of hyperpigmentation, eyelid swelling and discharge, deformed nails, acne, natal teeth and swollen gums compared to controls. On examination, they had a much higher rate of dystrophic finger-nails and pigmented or dystrophic toe-nails than controls. They also had an increased rate of hyperpigmentation and acne. In addition they had more generalized itching, localized skin infections and hair loss. The findings seen in transplacentally exposed children differ from those seen in people directly exposed, particularly in the latter group in higher prevalence of acne.

Acne Vulgaris↗
PubMed1989

Relationship of mortality, occupation, and pulmonary diffusing capacity to pleural thickening in the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

We studied the relationship of pleural thickening consistent with asbestos exposure to mortality, career employment in asbestos-related jobs, and pulmonary diffusing capacity among participants in the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Three "B" readers examined chest X-rays to identify 59 individuals with such pleural abnormalities. From 1975 to 1984, the all-cause mortality rate ratio (RR) comparing males with and without occupational pleural thickening was 1.3 (95% C.I. 0.8-2.2). For lung cancer, the mortality RR for males was 3.0 (95% C.I. 1.0-9.1). Career asbestos work was not associated with occupational pleural thickening among men, probably because some with the condition had only short-term exposure to asbestos. Pulmonary diffusing capacity was lower in those with occupational pleural thickening, taking smoking into account. These results suggest that individuals in the general population who have occupational pleural thickening are at risk for some of the health consequences of asbestos work, including lung cancer, even if they were not career asbestos workers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Congenital poisoning by polychlorinated biphenyls and their contaminants in Taiwan.

In 1979, a mass poisoning occurred in Taiwan from cooking oil contaminated by thermally degraded polychlorinated biphenyls. Because these chemicals persist in human tissue, children born to female patients after the outbreak were exposed in utero. In 1985, 117 children born to affected women and 108 unexposed controls were examined and evaluated. The exposed children were shorter and lighter than controls; they had abnormalities of gingiva, skin, nails, teeth, and lungs more frequently than did controls. The exposed children showed delay of developmental milestones, deficits on formal developmental testing, and abnormalities on behavioral assessment. These findings are most consistent with a generalized disorder of ectodermal tissue. This syndrome is one of very few documented to result from transplacental exposure to pollutant chemicals.

Conjunctivitis↗
PubMed1988

Development after exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene transplacentally and through human milk.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE), either transplacentally or through breast feeding, affected scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 6 or 12 months of age. DESIGN: Cohort followed from birth to 1 year of age. SETTING: General community. PARTICIPANTS: Volunteer sample of 858 infants, of whom 802 had Bayley scores available at either 6 months or 12 months or both. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Bayley scales and chemical measurements were done independently. Higher transplacental exposure to PCBs was associated with lower psychomotor scores at both 6 and 12 months of age; the difference between the mean scores in the lowest and highest PCB groups was 7 points at 6 months and 8 points at 12 months. Higher transplacental exposure to DDE was associated with higher mental scores at 6 months of age (the difference between the mean scores in the lowest and highest DDE groups was 6 points), but no relationship was seen at 12 months. Exposure to either chemical through breast feeding was apparently unrelated to Bayley scores. CONCLUSIONS: Transplacental exposure to PCBs was associated with lower psychomotor scores. No deleterious effects were associated with breast feeding.

Brain↗
PubMed1987

US prevalence of occupational pleural thickening. A look at chest X-rays from the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The prevalence of occupational pleural thickening in the United States in the mid-1970s was estimated; since asbestos often produces pleural thickening, this estimate in turn was used to estimate the prevalence of asbestos exposure. Chest x-rays obtained by the 1971-1975 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were reread by three readers using the International Labour Office criteria for diagnosis of pleural thickening consistent with dust exposure. All 289 x-rays showing any pleural abnormalities plus a 3-to-1 age-, sex-, and race-matched control series were reread. Using two of three readings as "positive," and extrapolating to the US population from this defined sample, the authors showed that 2.3% of males and 0.2% of females had occupational pleural thickening on x-ray, with a strong increase with age in white males. This provides a US population estimate of 1.3 million people with occupational pleural thickening and approximately 8 million people with asbestos exposure in the mid-1970s. This cohort might make a substantial contribution to cancer mortality into the next century.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) in human milk: effects on growth, morbidity, and duration of lactation.

We followed 858 children from birth to one year of age to determine whether the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) in breast milk affected their growth or health. Neither chemical showed an adverse effect on weight or frequency of physician visits for various illnesses, although differences were seen between breast-fed and bottle-fed children, with bottle-fed children being heavier and having more frequent gastroenteritis and otitis media. Children of mothers with higher levels of DDE were breast-fed for markedly shorter times, but adjustments for possible confounders and biases did not change the findings. In absence of any apparent effect on the health of the children, we speculate that DDE may be interfering with the mother's ability to lactate, possibly because of its estrogenic properties.

Body Weight↗
PubMed1986

Neonatal effects of transplacental exposure to PCBs and DDE.

Neonatal effects of transplacental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) were examined in a study of 912 infants. Birth weight, head circumference, and neonatal jaundice showed no relationship to PCBs or DDE. We also administered the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales, which are psychologic and neurologic tests designed for use in newborn infants. The results of these tests showed that higher PCB levels were associated with hypotonicity and hyporeflexia and that higher DDE levels were associated with hyporeflexia.

Birth Weight↗
PubMed1986

Association of amino levulinate dehydratase levels and ferrochelatase inhibition in childhood lead exposure.

The basis for the clinical variation in response to lead exposure in children is not well understood. We studied selected children from a large lead screening program in whom elevation of red cell protoporphyrin concentration (a measure of inhibition of the enzyme ferrochelatase) was markedly above or below average for a given blood lead level. We then measured the activity of the enzyme amino levulinate dehydratase in 306 of these children, and found that ALA-d activity was lower in children with higher protoporphyrin elevation, independent of the effects of lead. This observation, coupled with reports in the literature of families with ALA-d deficiencies and elevated red cell protoporphyrin values, makes likely a genetic basis for some of the variation in susceptibility to lead. The mechanism by which the two effects are associated remains unknown.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1986

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) in human milk: effects of maternal factors and previous lactation.

The authors measured polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethene (DDE) in maternal serum, cord blood, placenta, and serial samples of breast milk from 868 women. Almost all samples of breast milk showed detectable levels of both chemicals. Overall, values for DDE in this study are within the range of those found previously, whereas those for PCBs are somewhat higher. Possible causes of variation in levels were investigated. For DDE, older women, Black women, cigarette smokers, and women who consumed sport fish during pregnancy had higher levels; only age and race showed large effects. For PCBs, older women, women who regularly drink alcohol, and primiparae had higher levels. In addition, both chemicals showed modest variation across occupational groupings. Casual exposure to a PCB spill did not result in chemical levels different from background. In general, women have higher levels in their first lactation and in the earlier samples of a given lactation, and levels decline both with time spent breast-feeding and with number of children nursed. These striking declines are presumably a measure of exposure to the child.

Adolescent↗