TY - JOUR
T1 - Living proximity to petrochemical industries and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children
AU - Huang, Ching chun
AU - Pan, Shih chun
AU - Chin, Wei shan
AU - Chen, Yu cheng
AU - Wu, Chih da
AU - Hsu, Chin yu
AU - Lin, Pinpin
AU - Chen, Pau chung
AU - Guo, Yue Leon
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by National Health Research Institutes , Taiwan (Grant No. NHRI-107-EMSP04 and EC1070901-E ) and Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (Grant No. MOST-108-2621-M-002-019 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2022/9
Y1 - 2022/9
N2 - Evidence regarding the negative neurodevelopmental effects of compound exposure to petrochemicals remains limited. We aimed to evaluate the association between exposure to petrochemical facilities and generated emissions during early life and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) development in children. We conducted a population-based birth cohort study using the 2004 to 2014 Taiwanese Birth Certificate Database and verified diagnoses of ADHD using the National Health Insurance Database. The level of petrochemical exposure in each participant's residential township was evaluated using the following 3 measurements: distance to the nearest petrochemical industrial plant (PIP), petrochemical exposure probability (accounting for monthly prevailing wind measurements), and monthly benzene concentrations estimated using kriging-based land-use regression models. We applied Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the association. During the study period, 48,854 out of 1,863,963 children were diagnosed as having ADHD. The results revealed that residents of townships in close proximity to PIPs (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16–1.23, <3 vs. ≥10 km), highly affected by petrochemical-containing prevailing winds (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.08–1.16, ≥40% vs. <10%), and with high benzene concentrations (HR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.23–1.29, ≥0.75 vs. <0.55 ppb) were consistently associated with the increased risk of ADHD development in children. The findings of the sensitivity analysis remained robust, particularly for the 2004 to 2009 birth cohort and for models accounting for a longer duration of postnatal exposure. This work provided clear evidence that living near petrochemical plants increases the risk of ADHD development in children. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings.
AB - Evidence regarding the negative neurodevelopmental effects of compound exposure to petrochemicals remains limited. We aimed to evaluate the association between exposure to petrochemical facilities and generated emissions during early life and the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) development in children. We conducted a population-based birth cohort study using the 2004 to 2014 Taiwanese Birth Certificate Database and verified diagnoses of ADHD using the National Health Insurance Database. The level of petrochemical exposure in each participant's residential township was evaluated using the following 3 measurements: distance to the nearest petrochemical industrial plant (PIP), petrochemical exposure probability (accounting for monthly prevailing wind measurements), and monthly benzene concentrations estimated using kriging-based land-use regression models. We applied Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the association. During the study period, 48,854 out of 1,863,963 children were diagnosed as having ADHD. The results revealed that residents of townships in close proximity to PIPs (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.20, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16–1.23, <3 vs. ≥10 km), highly affected by petrochemical-containing prevailing winds (HR = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.08–1.16, ≥40% vs. <10%), and with high benzene concentrations (HR = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.23–1.29, ≥0.75 vs. <0.55 ppb) were consistently associated with the increased risk of ADHD development in children. The findings of the sensitivity analysis remained robust, particularly for the 2004 to 2009 birth cohort and for models accounting for a longer duration of postnatal exposure. This work provided clear evidence that living near petrochemical plants increases the risk of ADHD development in children. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113128
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2022.113128
M3 - Article
C2 - 35337833
AN - SCOPUS:85126957487
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 212
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
M1 - 113128
ER -