Relation between cord blood mercury levels and early child development in a World Trade Center cohort.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE:
This study was designed to determine whether prenatal mercury exposure, including potential releases from the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, adversely affects fetal growth and child development.

METHODS:
We determined maternal and umbilical cord blood total mercury of nonsmoking women who delivered at term in lower Manhattan after 11 September 2001, and measured birth outcomes and child development.

RESULTS:
Levels of total mercury in cord and maternal blood were not significantly higher for women who resided or worked within 1 or 2 miles of the WTC in the month after 11 September, compared with women who lived and worked farther away. Average cord mercury levels were more than twice maternal levels, and both were elevated in women who reported eating fish/seafood during pregnancy. Regression analyses showed no significant association between (ln) cord or maternal blood total mercury and birth outcomes. Log cord mercury was inversely associated with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development psychomotor score [Psychomotor Development Index (PDI)] at 36 months (b = -4.2, p = 0.007) and with Performance (b = -3.4, p = 0.023), Verbal (b = -2.9, p = 0.023), and Full IQ scores (b = -3.8, p = 0.002) on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Revised (WPPSI-R), at 48 months, after controlling for fish/seafood consumption and other confounders. Fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy was significantly associated with a 5.6- to 9.9-point increase in 36-month PDI, and 48-month Verbal and Full IQ scores.

CONCLUSIONS:
Blood mercury was not significantly raised in women living or working close to the WTC site in the weeks after 11 September 2001. Higher cord blood mercury was associated with reductions in developmental scores at 36 and 48 months, after adjusting for the positive effects of fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy.

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Author information

Author/s: Lederman, Sally Ann (SA); Jones, Robert L (RL); Caldwell, Kathleen L (KL); Rauh, Virginia (V); Sheets, Stephen E (SE); Tang, Deliang (D); Viswanathan, Sheila (S); Becker, Mark (M); Stein, Janet L (JL); Wang, Richard Y (RY); Perera, Frederica P (FP);

Affiliation: Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA. sal1(-atsign-)columbia.edu

Grants: 5P01 ES09600 (Agency:United States NIEHS) ; 5R01 ES08977 (Agency:United States NIEHS) ; ES09089 (Agency:United States NIEHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Journal: Environmental health perspectives (Environ Health Perspect), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Aug; vol 116 (issue 8) : pp 1085-91

Dates: Created 2008/08/18; Completed 2008/09/10;

PMID: 18709170, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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.

Child Development - drug effects
Child, Preschool
Cohort Studies
Environmental Pollutants - blood; toxicity
Female
Fetal Blood - chemistry
Geography
Humans

Intelligence Tests
Maternal Exposure
Mercury - blood; toxicity
New York City
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Outcome - epidemiology
Seafood
September 11 Terrorist Attacks

Associated Chemicals: Environmental Pollutants (0) ; Mercury (7439-97-6)

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