Gina Muckle

Université Laval | ULAVAL · School of Psychology

Background: Folic acid (FA) supplementation may attenuate the associations between gestational exposure to certain chemicals and autism or autistic-like behaviors, but to our knowledge, this has not been assessed for lead. Objectives: We examined whether the relationship between gestational blood-lead levels (BLLs) and autistic-like behaviors wa...

Behavioral traits of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) typically present in early childhood, underscoring the importance of screening tools for the early identification of ASD. The current study compared scores on the Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2) Preschool Form between the US standardization sample (n = 247) and a Canadian cohort...

While its etiology is not fully elucidated, preterm birth represents a major public health concern as it is the leading cause of child mortality and morbidity. Stress is one of the most common perinatal conditions and may increase the risk of preterm birth. In this paper we aimed to investigate the association of maternal perceived stress and anxie...

Many indigenous cultures conceptualize health wholistically, whereby physical, mental, spiritual and relational dimensions of health are interconnected. Yet, quantitative approaches to studying Indigenous health remain anchored in western perspectives, that separate the dimensions of health. This paper aims to operationalize a wholistic indicator o...

Introduction: This study examined (1) whether measures of paternal anxious and depressive symptoms collected prenatally and during a follow-up assessment when the child was in middle childhood, predict child neuroendocrine outcomes, and (2) whether neuroendocrine outcomes are intermediate factors between paternal mental health and child cognitive/b...

Introduction: Approximately 5.5% of pregnant women take antidepressants. Studies on prenatal exposure to antidepressants reported no association with child cognition, and inconsistent results with motor function and language development. A limitation has been the failure to adjust for prenatal maternal distress. Objectives: Assess the associations...

Background The pan‐Canadian Maternal–Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) study was established to determine whether maternal environmental chemical exposures were associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes in 2001 pregnant women. Objectives The MIREC‐Child Development (CD PLUS) study followed this cohort with the goal of assessing t...

Background Prenatal fluoride exposure can have adverse effects on children’s development; however, associations with visual and cardiac autonomic nervous system functioning are unknown. We examined associations between prenatal fluoride exposure and visual acuity and heart rate variability (HRV) in 6-month-old infants. Methods We used data from Ca...

Despite extensive evidence from cohort studies linking exposure to lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) to numerous cognitive outcomes in children and adolescents, very few studies addressed reward sensitivity, a key dimension of emotional regulation. The present study aimed to examine associations between pre- and postnatal...

Background: Previous studies aiming at relating exposure to phenols and phthalates with child social behavior characterized exposure using one or a few spot urine samples, resulting in substantial exposure misclassification. Moreover, early infancy exposure was rarely studied. Objectives: We aimed to examine the associations of phthalates and ph...

Objectives: The smoking rate in Canada has declined in past decades, yet smoking rates remain high in Nunavik (northern Québec), where an estimated 80% of adult respondents smoke. We investigated sociodemographic factors, smoking behaviours, harm perception, and social support as determinants of smoking cessation attempts and successes among Nunav...

Background: Prenatal and childhood mercury (Hg) exposures have been associated with negative impacts on child neurodevelopment. It is unclear if associations persist at the low Hg exposures typical in Western countries. Objective: To examine associations between prenatal/childhood blood Hg concentrations and child IQ in Canadian male and female...

Background: Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has been shown to be neurotoxic in experimental studies, but epidemiological evidence linking prenatal PFAS exposure to child neurodevelopment is equivocal and scarce. Objective: To quantify associations between prenatal exposure to legacy PFAS and children's intelligence (IQ) and executiv...

Objectives: Distress and associated health problems reported by Nunavik Inuit emanate from heterogeneous roots, including adverse childhood experiences. This study aims to (1) identify distinct childhood adversity profiles and (2) examine associations between these profiles and sex, socioeconomic characteristics, social support, and community invo...

Background: Chlordecone is a highly persistent organochlorine insecticide that was intensively used in banana fields in the French West Indies, resulting in a widespread contamination. Neurotoxicity of acute exposures in adults is well recognized, and empirical data suggests that prenatal exposure affects visual and fine motor developments during...

Objective: Stemming from historical traumas and changes in the Inuit way of life, substance use and its intertwined problems are a major cause of concern for Nunavimmiut. This study's objective is to investigate sociocultural determinants of substance use and misuse to inform culturally appropriate public health programs. Methods: The 2017 Qanui...

Better understanding attitudes toward pregnancy – a potent predictor of adolescent pregnancy – could help explain the high adolescent pregnancy rate in Nunavik, Canada. The objective of this study was to assess the distribution of different attitudes toward pregnancy and the factors associated with high pregnancy likelihood attitudes (HPLA; favoura...

Comparative metagenomics studies have highlighted differences in microbiome community structure among human populations over diverse lifestyles and environments. With their unique environmental and historical backgrounds, Nunavik Inuit have a distinctive gut microbiome with undocumented health-related implications. Using shotgun metagenomics, we ex...

Objectives: Studies show that living in overcrowded households can contribute to the erosion of social support, which is an important factor in health and well-being. In this study, we examine the relationship between household crowding and social support for Inuit living in Nunavik (hereafter referred to as Nunavimmiut), a region where housing sh...

This study described the distribution of unintentional injuries among Inuit youth in Nunavik, Quebec, Canada, and examined the relationship between socio-demographic factors, substance use and unintentional injuries. A cross-sectional study design was used on data collected for the Nunavik Child Development Study (2013–2015) among eligible youth ag...

Objective: Built on the Inuit determinants approach of health, this study aimed to identify sociocultural factors associated with mental health among Inuit of Nunavik to guide programs and services. Methods: The data were collected through the Qanuilirpitaa? 2017, a survey characterized by the involvement of several Inuit representatives. Depres...

Background Prenatal lead exposure is known to have neurotoxic effects on the developing fetus, while some viral infections may have a tropism for the central nervous system. Our objective was to study whether the effects of prenatal lead exposure on infant development and behaviors at 18 months of age are modified by the occurrence of a maternal in...

Background: Unsupervised machine learning techniques have become increasingly popular for studying associations between gestational exposure mixtures and human health. Latent profile analysis is one method that has not been fully explored. Methods: We estimated associations between gestational chemical mixtures and child neurodevelopment using l...

Background:Chlordecone is a highly persistent organochlorine insecticide that was intensively used in banana fields in the French West Indies, therefore resulting in a widespread contamination of soils, water sources and foodstuff. Neurotoxicity of acute exposures in adults is well recognized, and empirical data suggests that prenatal exposure affe...

Gestational arsenic exposure adversely impacts child health. Folate-mediated 1-carbon metabolism facilitates urinary excretion of arsenic and may prevent arsenic-related adverse health outcomes. We investigated the potential for maternal folate status to modify associations between gestational arsenic exposure and child health. We used data from 36...

Background Perinatal infection with Zika virus (ZIKV) could result in adverse growth, developmental and behavioral outcomes, while insecticides used to control mosquitoes are neurotoxic. Objectives We aim to study the role played by exposure during pregnancy to both ZIKV and household insecticides in newborn health, development and behavior at age...

Contexte L'exposition prénatale au plomb (EPP) est connue pour ses effets neurotoxiques sur le fœtus. Certaines infections virales pouvant avoir un tropisme pour le système nerveux central, notre objectif est d’étudier si les effets de l'EPP sur le développement de l'enfant à l’âge de 18 mois sont modifiés par la survenue d'une infection maternelle...

Exposure to environmental contaminants is an important public health concern for the Inuit population of northern Québec, who have been exposed to mercury (Hg), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and lead (Pb). During the last 25 years, the Nunavik Child Development Study (NCDS) birth cohort has reported adverse associations between these exposures a...

Ambivalence toward pregnancy is an important predictor of early pregnancy as documented in diverse Western societies. Inuit women from Nunavik, a northern region of Quebec, Canada, experience a high rate of early pregnancy, yet no study has explored their attitudes toward pregnancy. Grounded in a participatory approach, this study aimed to explore...

Importance Household food insecurity has been associated with mental health problems in children independently of family income and other confounders. It is unclear whether food insecurity during childhood is also associated with mental health and functioning during adolescence. Objective To evaluate longitudinal trajectories of household food ins...

In contrast to most Indigenous people in Canada, Inuit appeared until recently to have been protected from type 2 diabetes (T2D) related to obesity. We assessed the associations of metabolites (amino acids, acylcarnitines) with adiposity and biomarkers of T2D in school-aged Inuit children of Nunavik (Canada). Concentrations of metabolite were measu...

Background Chlordecone is an organochlorine that was largely used as an insecticide to control a species of root borers, the Banana weevil(Cosmopolites sordidus), in the French West Indies, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Its molecules have been shown to be very persistent in the environment as pollution in soils leading to contamination of water source...

Objective Self-reported maternal prenatal stress (MPS) has been associated with earlier febrile seizure (FS) age of onset in offspring. Studies are needed to understand how the biological systems associated with exposure to psychological MPS are linked to seizure disorders in children. The aim of this study was to investigate whether placental mark...

The prevalence of mental health problems represents a significant burden on school and community health resources as early as preschool. Reducing this burden requires a better understanding of the developmental mechanisms linking children’s early vulnerabilities with mental health after the transition to formal schooling. The 3D-Transition study (2...

Background Fluoride has been associated with IQ deficits during early brain development, but the period in which children are most sensitive is unknown. Objective We assessed effects of fluoride on IQ scores across prenatal and postnatal exposure windows. Methods We used repeated-exposures from 596 mother-child pairs in the Maternal-Infant Resear...

Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is characterized by impaired social communication and stereotypic behaviors, affects 1-2% of children. While prenatal exposure to toxicants has been associated with autistic behaviors, most studies have focused on shifts in mean behavior scores. We used Bayesian quantile regression to assess the associations between...

Childhood exposure to phthalates, a class of chemicals with known reproductive and developmental effects, has been hypothesized to increase the risk of obesity, but this association is not well understood in preschool children. We examined the association between urinary concentrations of phthalate metabolites and concurrently measured body mass in...

Exposure to mercury, lead and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have been associated with emotional dysregulation, but their neuronal correlates have yet to be examined. Inuit from Nunavik (Northern Quebec, Canada) face internalizing problems and are among the most exposed individuals to these environmental contaminants in the world. The aim of this...

Background Studies of prenatal poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behaviors in children are inconsistent. Objectives To examine associations between maternal serum PFAS concentrations and child behavior in 241 mother-child dyads within the Health Outcomes and Measures of the Envir...

BACKGROUND: The etiology of autism spectrum disorder is poorly understood. Few studies have investigated the link between endocrine-disrupting chemicals and autistic traits. We examined the relationship between gestational phthalates and autistic traits in 3-to 4-y-old Canadian children. We also investigated potential effect modification by sex and...

Background Prenatal exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) has been associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in children, but evidence remains mixed regarding sex differences in this association. Objective To examine the prospective association between prenatal PBDE exposure and cognitive ability in young children, as well a...

Chlordecone was used intensively as an insecticide in the French West Indies. Because of its high persistence, the resulting contamination of food and water has led to chronic exposure of the general population as evidenced by its presence in the blood of people of Guadeloupe, in particular in pregnant women and newborns, and in maternal breast mil...

Among populations living in close connection with the sea, rivers and lakes for subsistence, diet varies according to local monthly wildlife species availability and food preferences. This may lead to variations in methylmercury (MeHg) exposure over a year, although no biomonitoring studies have documented this issue in Circumpolar populations, the...

Background Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are persistent and ubiquitous environmental contaminants that potentially disrupt endocrine system functions. While some PFAAs (perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)) are regulated, currently used fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs) can be transported to the Arctic and are degraded in a n...

Background Organophosphate pesticides are widely used in agriculture and for other purposes, leading to ubiquitous exposure in human populations. Some studies reported cognitive deficits in children exposed prenatally to organophosphate pesticides, but findings from recent studies were inconsistent. Furthermore, recent biomonitoring studies suggest...

The Inuit of Nunavik (Northern Quebec, Canada) are exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and mercury (Hg) through their consumption of marine country foods. A temporal trend study was initiated in 1992 to monitor circulating levels of PCBs and Hg in pregnant Inuit women, since the fetus is most at risk of adverse health effects. We set out (1...

Background/Aims Given that their traditional lifestyle and diet still relies on fish and other marine species for sustenance, the Inuit are highly exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and PCBs are increasingly linked to obesity. However, evidence is not consistent regarding which periods of exposure are most relevant. In this study, we exami...

Objective The present study aims at measuring the association between household food insecurity and psychological distress in adolescents in Inuit communities, concurrently and overtime from childhood to adolescence. Design The study used measures of internalising behaviours (anxiety, withdrawn attitude, somatic complaints and depression) as indic...

La consommation maternelle de substances psychoactives à potentiel tératogène durant la grossesse demeure mal documentée, malgré son impact négatif sur le développement de l’enfant à naître. Chez les familles évoluant au sein de conditions de vie adverses, le risque d’exposition prénatale à ces substances serait tel que l’urgence d’un dépistage hât...

One-third of Inuit households in the Canadian Arctic are in core housing need-three times the national average. In 2014–2015, over 400 social housing units were constructed in Nunavik and Nunavut, two of the four Inuit land claims regions in Canada. This article examines whether rehousing, following this large-scale construction commitment, is asso...

Exposure to the man-made chemicals perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS) is widespread. These perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) have been associated with androgenic endocrine-disrupting properties; however, the evidence is equivocal and few human studies have examined the association be...

Recent evidence suggests that prenatal exposure to chlordecone, a persistent organochlorine pesticide that was used intensively in the French West Indies, affects infant neurodevelopment. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between prenatal and postnatal chlordecone exposures on visual contrast sensitivity in 285 children a...

Abstract Background Prenatal exposure to environmental contaminants can have deleterious effects on child development. While psychomotor, cognitive and behavioural outcomes have been investigated in relation to chronic exposure, the associations with visual functions remains unclear. The present study’s aim was to assess the associations of prenata...

Background: The etiology of autism spectrum disorder is poorly understood. Few studies have investigated the link between endocrine-disrupting chemicals and autistic traits. We examined the relationship between gestational phthalates and autistic traits in 3- to 4-y-old Canadian children. We also investigated potential effect modification by sex a...

Background Though the physiological roles of adipokines in metabolism, insulin resistance and satiety are clear, literature regarding associations between cord blood adipokine levels and childhood adiposity is equivocal. Objectives To determine whether cord blood levels of leptin and adiponectin are associated with adiposity in children 2 to 5 yea...

Background: Infant consumption of formula reconstituted with fluoridated water can lead to excessive fluoride intake. We examined the association between fluoride exposure in infancy and intellectual ability in children who lived in fluoridated or non-fluoridated cities in Canada. Methods: We examined 398 mother-child dyads in the Maternal-Infan...

Objectives In 2014–2015, over 400 social housing units were constructed in selected communities in Nunavik and Nunavut, two Inuit regions in northern Canada where housing shortages and poor quality housing are endemic and undermine population health. This paper presents results from a before-and-after study examining the effects of rehousing, i.e.,...

Background: Many pregnant women are consuming diets of poor overall quality. Although many studies have linked poor prenatal diet quality to an increased risk of specific diseases in offspring, it is not known if exposure to poor prenatal diet affects core neurophysiological regulatory systems in offspring known to lie upstream of multiple disease...

Fetal exposure to some toxic metals has been associated with reduced fetal growth, but the impact of contemporary, low-level metals on anthropometric measures in childhood is not well understood. Our primary objective was to quantify associations between childhood levels of toxic metals and concurrently measured body mass index (BMI) in a populatio...

Importance The potential neurotoxicity associated with exposure to fluoride, which has generated controversy about community water fluoridation, remains unclear. Objective To examine the association between fluoride exposure during pregnancy and IQ scores in a prospective birth cohort. Design, Setting, and Participants This prospective, multicent...

Background: Lead (Pb) exposure is associated with adverse neurological development. Most notably, it has been observed through externalizing behavior symptoms, as observed among Inuit children from northern Québec. Evidence for a persistent neurological impact of early Pb exposure later in life is however scarce. Pb exposure may initiate a develop...