title: Lead, mercury, and cadmium in umbilical cord serum and birth outcomes in Chinese fish consumers.
abstract: Heavy metals such as lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and cadmium (Cd) were detected in the islands of Yangtze River estuary and Hangzhou bay and their exposure caused potential health risk for the residents. To assess the exposure levels of Pb, Hg, and Cd, the umbilical cord serum samples were collected from 103 mother-newborn pairs as the noninvasive specimens. The association of the concentration of Pb, Hg, and Cd with the birth outcomes was evaluated. Pb, Hg, and Cd had high exposure levels with the median concentrations at 76.20 μg L(-1) [interquartile range (IQR): 44.71, 115.80], 21.94 μg L(-1) (IQR: 15.10, 27.64), and 6.36 μg L(-1) (IQR: 3.63, 13.34), respectively. A unit increase in the Pb umbilical cord serum concentration (μg L(-1)) was significantly associated with a 0.29 cm (95% CI: -0.50, -0.09) decrease in birth height and a 0.22 cm (95%CI: -0.44, 0.00) decrease in head circumference. The middle tertile Pb and Hg exposure levels were found significantly negative effects on birth outcomes compared with low tertile exposure levels. Exposure to Cd showed no apparent effect on birth outcomes. Our results suggested that Pb and Hg exposure has potential adverse effects on birth outcomes in Chinese fish consumers from Yangtze River outlet and Hangzhou bay estuary regions.
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation & Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Mengling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation & Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Chenye
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation & Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation and Pollution Control, School of Environment, POPs Research Center, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Zhoushan Municipal for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Health Risk Factors for Seafood of Zhejiang Province, Zhoushan 316000, China.
authors.forename: Yongli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Zhoushan Municipal for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Health Risk Factors for Seafood of Zhejiang Province, Zhoushan 316000, China.
authors.forename: Xinwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environmental Remediation & Ecosystem Health, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China. Electronic address: wliu@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Weiping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002104:Cadmium / Q000097:blood*; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry*; D005399:Fishes; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007854:Lead / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood*; D017747:Seafood; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D002104:Cadmium; D007854:Lead; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Birth outcomes; Cadmium; Fish consumers; Lead; Mercury