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Parental Occupational Exposure and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Offspring: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

  • Occupational Health (M Friesen and K Applebaum, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose of Review

Parental occupational exposures might be associated with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) in offspring. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize and synthesize the current literature and to estimate the pooled magnitude of the underlying association(s) between parental occupational exposures and subsequent risk of NDDs.

Recent Findings

In the meta-analysis of 20 included studies, significant associations were found between parental occupational exposure to pesticides or solvents and the risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in offspring. Prenatal occupational exposure to pesticides was significantly associated with motor development or cognition disorders in children. Furthermore, some evidence showed that metals might have a role in the development of autism spectrum disorders.

Summary

Further studies need to identify the level of parental occupational exposures that can be significantly associated with NDDs. Moreover, utilizing standardized outcome and exposure scales is recommended to incorporate paternal, maternal, and parental as well as both prenatal and postnatal exposure in future studies.

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Funding

This project has been supported by Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (Project Number: 299255, Ethics approval code: IR.MUI.MED.REC.1399.1096).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Maryam Bemanalizadeh, Mehri Khoshhali, Parvin Goli, Ibrahim Abdollahpour & Roya Kelishadi

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  1. Maryam Bemanalizadeh
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  2. Mehri Khoshhali
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  3. Parvin Goli
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  4. Ibrahim Abdollahpour
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  5. Roya Kelishadi
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Contributions

Conception and study design: RK, IA, MB. Search strategy: MB and PG. Study selection: MB and PG. Data extraction: MB, PG. Data management, synthesis, and analysis: MB, IA, MKH. Data interpretation: RK, IA, MKH. Manuscript drafting: MB and MKH. Manuscript edition: IA, RK. Manuscript revision and review: IA, RK. Accepted the final version of the manuscript: MB, MKH, PG, IA, RK.

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Correspondence to Ibrahim Abdollahpour.

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Bemanalizadeh, M., Khoshhali, M., Goli, P. et al. Parental Occupational Exposure and Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Offspring: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Curr Envir Health Rpt 9, 406–422 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-022-00356-6

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