Thyroid hormones and neurobehavioral functions among adolescents chronically exposed to groundwater with geogenic arsenic in Bangladesh

Khalid M Khan; Faruque Parvez; R. Thomas Zoeller; Barbara A Hocevar; Lisa M Kamendulis; Diane Rohlman; Mahbubul Eunus; Joseph Graziano

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.426

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Thyroid hormones and neurobehavioral functions among adolescents chronically exposed to groundwater with geogenic arsenic in Bangladesh

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Thyroid hormones and neurobehavioral functions among adolescents chronically exposed to groundwater with geogenic arsenic in Bangladesh

Khalid M Khan, Faruque Parvez, R. Thomas Zoeller, Barbara A Hocevar, Lisa M Kamendulis, Diane Rohlman, Mahbubul Eunus and Joseph Graziano

The Science of the total environment, Vol.678, pp.278-287

08/15/2019

DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.426

PMCID: PMC6544172

PMID: 31075594

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https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/6544172View

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Abstract

Groundwater, the major source of drinking water in Bengal Delta Plain, is contaminated with geogenic arsenic (As) enrichment affecting millions of people. Children exposed to tubewell water containing As may be associated with thyroid dysfunction, which in turn may impact neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, data to support such relationship is sparse. The purpose of this study was to examine if chronic water As (WAs) from Holocene alluvial aquifers in this region was associated with serum thyroid hormone (TH) and if TH biomarkers were related to neurobehavioral (NB) performance in a group of adolescents. A sample of 32 healthy adolescents were randomly drawn from a child cohort in the Health Effects of Arsenic Longitudinal Study (HEALS) in Araihazar, Bangladesh. Half of these participants were consistently exposed to low WAs (<10 μg/L) and the remaining half had high WAs exposure (≥10 μg/L) since birth. Measurements included serum total triiodothyronine (tT3), free thyroxine (fT4), thyrotropin (TSH) and thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb); concurrent WAs and urinary arsenic (UAs); and adolescents' NB performance. WAs and UAs were positively and significantly correlated with TPOAb but were not correlated with TSH, tT3 and fT4. After accounting for covariates, both WAs and UAs demonstrated positive but non-significant relationships with TSH and TPOAb and negative but non-significant relationships with tT3 and fT4. TPOAb was significantly associated with reduced NB performance indicated by positive associations with latencies in simple reaction time (b = 82.58; p < 0.001) and symbol digit (b = 276.85; p = 0.005) tests. TSH was significantly and negatively associated with match-to-sample correct count (b = −0.95; p = 0.05). Overall, we did not observe significant associations between arsenic exposure and TH biomarkers although the relationships were in the expected directions. We observed TH biomarkers to be related to reduced NB performance as hypothesized. Our study indicated a possible mechanism of As-induced neurotoxicity, which requires further investigations for confirmatory findings. [Display omitted] •Arsenic in groundwater appeared to affect thyroperoxidase antibodies (TPOAb).•TPOAb was positively associated with latencies in two neurocognitive outcomes.•Thyrotropin (TSH) was negatively associated with correct match-to-sample count.

Arsenic in aquifer

Drinking water arsenic

Mechanism of neurotoxicity

Thyroid biomarkers

Details

Title: Subtitle: Thyroid hormones and neurobehavioral functions among adolescents chronically exposed to groundwater with geogenic arsenic in Bangladesh
Creators: Khalid M Khan - Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University-Bloomington, IN, USA
Faruque Parvez - Department of Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, USA
R. Thomas Zoeller - Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, USA
Barbara A Hocevar - Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University-Bloomington, IN, USA
Lisa M Kamendulis - Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Indiana University-Bloomington, IN, USA
Diane Rohlman - Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, College of Public Health, The University of Iowa, IA, USA
Mahbubul Eunus - U-Chicago Research Bangladesh, Ltd., Dhaka, Bangladesh
Joseph Graziano - Department of Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, USA
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: The Science of the total environment, Vol.678, pp.278-287
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.04.426
PMID: 31075594
PMCID: PMC6544172
NLM abbreviation: Sci Total Environ
ISSN: 0048-9697
eISSN: 1879-1026
Publisher: Elsevier B.V
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000066, name: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, award: P42 ES 10349; name: IU School of Public Health
Language: English
Date published: 08/15/2019
Academic Unit: Occupational and Environmental Health; International Programs; Injury Prevention Research Center
Record Identifier: 9984214690202771

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