title: Cognitive function among sons of women who worked in dentistry.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Exposure to elemental mercury vapor can impair neurological function as it is neurotoxic in doses         higher than usually found in dentistry. Little is known about the potential effects of fetal exposure to elemental         mercury among offspring of female dental workers. We investigated cognitive function among offspring of women working         in dentistry at the time of their pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We compared results for cognitive function examinations taken by         the majority of young men in Sweden at the time of compulsory military enlistment (age 17-18 years). Sons of         female dentists (N=365) and dental nurses (N=3181) born during the 1960-1970s were compared with sons of female         physicians (N=378) and assistant nurses (N=12 667).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analysis by linear regression showed that sons of dental         workers had similar or higher cognitive function test results compared to their matched cohorts.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found         no evidence of poorer cognitive function among male offspring of female dentists or dental nurses.
authors.affiliation: Karolinska Institutet, Department of Dental Medicine, Box 4064, SE-141 04 Huddinge, Sweden. aron.naimi-akbar@ki.se
authors.forename: Aron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naimi-Akbar
authors.forename: Gunilla
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sandborgh Englund
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ekbom
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ekstrand
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montgomery
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003071:Cognition; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003815:Dentists; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009679:Nuclear Family; D011247:Pregnancy; D013548:Sweden