Lead, mercury and cadmium in umbilical cord blood and its association with parental epidemiological variables and birth factors

BMC Public Health

Nuria Aragonés³  Mercedes Martínez⁵  María José González¹  Marina Pollán³  Gonzalo López-Abente³  Jesús Vioque⁴  José Frutos García²  José Miguel García-Sagredo⁷  Ángel Asensio²  Amparo de Santos²  Margot Cisneros²  Jenaro Astray²  Juan Carlos Sanz²  Andrés Iriso²  Elisa Gil²  Ana María Pérez-Meixeira²  Concha de Paz²  Mario Antonio Fernández¹  Pablo Fernández-Navarro³  Beatriz Pérez-Gómez³  Esther García-Esquinas⁶ 

[1] Instrumental Analysis and Environmental Chemistry Department, Organic Chemistry Institute, CSIC, Madrid, Spain;Madrid Regional Health & Consumer Affairs Authority, Madrid, Spain;Consortium for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (CIBER en Epidemiología y Salud Pública - CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain;Public Health Department, Miguel Hernandez University, Alicante, Spain;Health Prevention & Environmental Health Department, Madrid, Spain;Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA;Medical Genetics Department, Ramón y Cajal University Teaching Hospital, Madrid, Spain

关键词: Pregnancy;    Tobacco;    Environmental pollution;    Biomarker;    Mercury;    Lead;    Cadmium;   

Others  :  1161792
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-13-841

 received in 2013-05-14, accepted in 2013-09-05,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

In Spain, few studies have evaluated prenatal exposure to heavy metals. The objective of this study was to describe lead, mercury and cadmium concentrations in blood from a sample of newborn–mother-father trios, as well as to investigate the association between metals in cord blood and parental variables. We also explored the relationship between cord blood metal concentrations and child characteristics at birth.

Methods

Metal correlations among family members were assessed using Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient. Linear regression was used to explore the association between parental variables and log-transformed cord blood lead and cord blood mercury concentrations. In the case of cadmium, tobit regression was used due to the existence of samples below the detection limit. The association between cord blood metal concentrations and child characteristics at birth was evaluated using linear regression.

Results

Geometric means for lead, mercury and cadmium were 14.09 μg/L, 6.72 μg/L and 0.27 μg/L in newborns; 19.80 μg/L, 3.90 μg/L and 0.53 μg/L in pregnant women; and 33.00 μg/L, 5.38 μg/L and 0.49 μg/L in men. Positive correlations were found between metal concentrations among members of the trio. Lead and cadmium concentrations were 15% and 22% higher in newborns from mothers who smoked during pregnancy, while mercury concentrations were 25% higher in newborns from mothers with greater fish intake. Cord-blood lead levels showed seasonal periodicity, with lower concentrations observed in winter. Cord blood cadmium concentrations over 0.29 μg/L were associated with lower 1-minute and 5-minute Apgar scores.

Conclusions

These results reinforce the need to establish biomonitoring programs in Spain, and provide support for tobacco smoke and fish consumption as important preventable sources of heavy metal exposure in newborns. Additionally, our findings support the hypothesis that cadmium exposure might be deleterious to fetal development.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 García-Esquinas et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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