title: Early pregnancy blood lead and spontaneous abortion.
abstract: Although evidence tends to suggest that high levels of lead exposure increase the risk of spontaneous abortion, we do not yet know whether moderate- to low-level exposure elevates risk. Among 351 women (aged 16 to 35 years, with single pregnancies) who were registered for a longitudinal study, 15 (4.3%) women experienced spontaneous abortion after the 12th week of gestation and before the 20th week. We collected participants' blood samples during the first trimester of pregnancy (8-12 weeks) for lead measurement by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Mean ± standard deviation of blood lead was 3.8 ± 2.0 μg/dl (range 1.0-20.5 μg/dl) with a geometric mean of 3.5 μg/dl. Mean blood lead concentrations did not differ significantly between spontaneous abortion cases and ongoing pregnancies (3.51 ± 1.42 and 3.83 ± 1.99 μg/dl, respectively). The findings suggest that in apparently healthy women, low blood lead levels (mean < 5 μg/dl) measured in early pregnancy may not be a risk factor for spontaneous abortion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hazard Assessment, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Kawasaki, 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: Fumihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kitamura
authors.forename: Mohammadreza
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Afshinrokh
authors.forename: Abootaleb
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Beygi
authors.forename: Shirin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Niroomanesh
mesh_terms: D000022:Abortion, Spontaneous / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D007854:Lead / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000097:blood*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome / Q000453:epidemiology; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007854:Lead