Mercury levels in cord blood and meconium of healthy newborns and venous blood of their mothers: clinical, prospective cohort study.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
The purpose of this study is to investigate the chronic mercury intoxication in pregnant women and newborns living in Istanbul, Turkey.

METHODS:
The research was carried out as a prospective with 143 pregnant women and their newborns. Venous blood from the mother, cord blood from the neonate, and meconium were collected for mercury analysis. Frequency of fish and vegetable-eating and the number of teeth filled were investigated. Analyses were made in cold vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS, microg/L).

RESULTS:
Mercury levels were 0.38+/-0.5 microg/L (0-2.34) in venous blood of pregnant women, 0.50+/-0.64 microg/L (0-2.36) in umbilical cord blood and 9.45+/-13.8 microg/g (0-66.5) in meconium. Maternal blood mercury level was lower than the known toxic limit for humans (EPA, 5 microg/L). Mercury levels of the maternal venous blood were significantly correlated with umbilical cord blood. The primary risk factors affecting mercury levels were eating fishmeals more than twice a week and having filled teeth more than five. The fact that the mother had a regular vegetable diet everyday reduced the mercury levels. Increased levels of mercury in the mother and umbilical cord blood could lead to retarded newborns' weight and height.

CONCLUSION:
Pregnant women living in Istanbul may be not under the risk of chronic mercury intoxication. Fish consumption more than twice per week and tooth-filling of mother more than five may increase mercury level. On the contrary, regular diet rich in vegetable decreases the mercury level.

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Author information

Author/s: Unuvar, Emin (E); Ahmadov, Hasan (H); Kiziler, Ali Riza (AR); Aydemir, Birsen (B); Toprak, Sadik (S); Ulker, Volkan (V); Ark, Cemal (C);

Affiliation: Istanbul University, Department of Pediatrics, Istanbul, Turkey. Eunuvar(-atsign-)superonline.com

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Science of the total environment (Sci Total Environ), published in Netherlands. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2007-Mar; vol 374 (issue 1) : pp 60-70

Dates: Created 2007/02/16; Completed 2007/05/01; Revised 2008/11/21;

PMID: 17258795, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Cohort Studies
Educational Status
Female
Fetal Blood - chemistry
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Male
Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
Meconium - chemistry

Mercury - analysis; blood
Mercury Poisoning - etiology
Milk, Human - chemistry
Mothers
Pregnancy
Prospective Studies
Random Allocation
Risk Factors
Socioeconomic Factors
Turkey
Urban Health

Associated Chemicals: Mercury (7439-97-6)

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