title: Early pregnancy blood lead levels and the risk of premature rupture of the membranes.
abstract: To clarify the effects of lead on fetal premature rupture of the membranes (PROM), blood lead concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in 332 women, aged 16-35 years, during their early pregnancy period (8-12 weeks). Blood lead concentrations were significantly higher in the 36 PROM deliveries than in the 296 non-PROM deliveries (mean ± SD, 4.61 ± 2.37 and 3.69 ± 1.85 μg/dl, respectively; p<0.05). The logistic regression analysis revealed that a 1-unit increase in the logarithm of the blood lead level led to a several-fold increase in the risk of PROM (unit risk=17.98, 95% CI 1.6-198.6). Thus, it is suggested that lead can increase the risk of PROM in pregnant women with mean blood lead less than 5 μg/dl.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hazard Assessment, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, 6-21-6 Nagao, Tama-ku, Kawasaki 214-8585, Japan. vigeh@h.jniosh.go.jp
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vigeh
authors.forename: Kazuhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: Atsuko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shinohara
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Afshinrokh
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yunesian
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood* / Q000633:toxicity; D005260:Female; D005322:Premature Rupture of Fetal Membranes / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced*; D006801:Humans; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood* / Q000633:toxicity; D016015:Logistic Models; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D012307:Risk Factors; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D007854:Lead