Children of microelectronics workers: A follow-up study of prenatal occupational solvent exposure and child neuropsychological performance

To determine whether deficits in neuropsychological performance persist over a three year period in children whose parents were occupationally exposed to organic solvents prior to and/or during pregnancy, a follow-up study was conducted on 11 school-age children, the majority of whom were Latino.;On the Child Behavioral Checklist, administered as a measure of behavioral difficulties, somatic complaints were found to be in the clinical range for 5/11 cases. A significant difference between the two groups in the follow-up evaluation was found on the WRAT-R Reading subtest (p ;While the results of this study should be regarded with caution given the small sample size and potential self-selection bias, these preliminary findings suggest that overall, neuropsychological performance deficits manifested by children exposed to solvents in-utero may dissipate over the course of development. However, further study is indicated to understand the persisting reading impairment in the in-utero group.;Based on retrospective data concerning occupational and reproductive histories obtained from mothers in an interview, the children were divided according to exposure status into a pre-pregnancy and in-utero group. Neuropsychological performance was measured by a revised version of the Brief Neurospsychological Screening Battery for Children. The test battery included: (1) Digit Span and Coding subtests of the WISC-R; (2) WRAT-R Reading subtest; (3) Trail Making Test; (4) Strength of Grip Test; (5) Finger Tapping Test; (6) Cancellation H; (7) Digit Naming; (8) Name Writing.