title: Birth weight of children and cadmium accumulation in placentas of female nickel-cadmium (long-life) battery workers.
abstract: In a retrospective epidemiological study on the birth weight of 266 children of 137 female workers in a nickel-cadmium battery factory, 157 children of workers occupationally exposed to cadmium were compared with 109 born to non-occupationally exposed workers. No effect of cadmium exposure on birth weight was detected, but a statistically significant effect on birth weight of smoking during pregnancy was observed. In a prospective study on the same population of female battery workers, 27 placentas were collected and the cadmium distribution and concentration in tissue subsamples determined. Placental cadmium concentrations were positively correlated with maternal blood cadmium. The cadmium concentration in placentas ranged from < 0.002 to 0.095 microgram/g (wet weight), the mean concentration +/- SD was 0.021 +/- 0.022 microgram/g (wet weight). Morphological and ultrastructural studies of placental tissues did not reveal any effect of cadmium. This study did not provide any evidence in support of the hypothesis that the placenta may be the critical organ in exposure to cadmium.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, University of Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berlin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blanks
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Catton
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kazantzis
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Mottet
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Samiullah
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000187:drug effects*; D002104:Cadmium / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange / Q000502:physiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010920:Placenta / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D002104:Cadmium