Levels of prenatal mercury exposure and their relationships to neonatal anthropometry in Wujiang City, China.
We determined the levels of prenatal Hg exposure in Wujiang City, located in the southeast of Taihu Lake in China's Jiangsu Province, and analyze the relationship between prenatal exposure to Hg and neonatal anthropometry, including birth weight, body length, and head circumference. From June 2009 to July 2010, a total of 213 mother-infant pairs were enrolled. The geometric means of Hg levels in maternal hair, fetal hair, placentas, and cord blood were 496.76 μg/kg, 233.94 μg/kg, 3.58 μg/kg, and 1.54 μg/L, respectively. The Hg levels detected in our study were significantly lower than those reported by previous studies. In addition, no significant correlations were found between Hg levels in maternal hair, fetal hair, placenta, or cord blood and neonatal anthropometrics. Together, our findings may be important for understanding the effects of prenatal exposure to Hg on newborns' development and have implications concerning the recommended dose for Hg.
MOE-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children's Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, 1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
Bao-Qiang
BQ
Guo
Shi-Zhong
SZ
Cai
Jun-Liang
JL
Guo
Jian
J
Xu
Wei
W
Wu
Hui
H
Li
Xin
X
Zhou
Dae-Seon
DS
Kim
Chong-Huai
CH
Yan
Hong-Dao
HD
Lü
D000328:Adult; D001724:Birth Weight; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000378:metabolism; D006197:Hair / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism
D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury
AIDS; China; EDTA; Fish-consuming population; HIV; Low-level; Neonatal anthropometry; PCBs; Prenatal mercury exposure; acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid; human immunodeficiency virus; polychlorinated biphenyls