Five Questions With: Joseph Braun

"We're concerned about [these chemicals] since everyone is exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis."

Joseph Braun is an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the Program of Public Health at Brown University. He recently received a $1.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research how exposure to three common chemicals – bisphenol A, triclosan and phthalates – during pregnancy and childhood affect brain development.

PBN: You’ve been working on this line of research for some time. How have you been measuring behavior, memory and learning in children in conjunction with their chemical exposure in-utero and during early childhood?

BRAUN: Parents complete surveys about their child’s behavior. These behaviors include aggression, attention, anxiety, depression, and hyperactivity. We also administer computerized tests of attention, impulse control, and memory to children. Finally, children complete standardized tests of intelligence (i.e., IQ) and achievement.

PBN: Of the three chemicals – BPA, phthalate and tricolosan – is one more concerning than the others?

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BRAUN: We’re concerned about all three since everyone is exposed to these chemicals on a daily basis. There is some evidence that BPA and phthalate exposures may be associated with adverse brain development. However, there have been no studies examining the neurotoxicity of triclosan in humans.

PBN: How seriously could alterations in thyroid hormone levels affect brain development?
BRAUN:
It depends on how low the infant or child’s levels were to begin with. There is some normal variation in thyroid hormones, but once levels are too low, there may be insufficient amounts for proper growth and development.

PBN: How long have scientists known that the thyroid influenced brain development?
BRAUN:
We have known for the last 20-plus years that thyroid hormones are important for brain development. However, much of this research has been focused on clinical deficiencies in thyroid hormones, such as insufficient thyroid hormones during pregnancy or insufficient thyroid hormones in the newborn.

PBN: Once thyroid hormone levels have gotten imbalanced in a child, are there therapies to get them back in balance?
BRAUN
: Babies with congenital hypothyroidism (too little thyroid hormone) are treated with synthetic thyroid hormones. All babies in the state of Rhode Island are screened for this disease before they leave the hospital.

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