Levels of toxic and essential metals in maternal cord blood and anthropometry at birth: a pilot study
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Date
2021-10-25
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Global Health Reports
Abstract
Background
Anthropometric parameters at birth are important indicators of child vulnerability to the
risk of childhood illness, and consequently, the chance of survival and risk of diseases late
in life. The aim of this study was to investigate correlations between toxic (aluminium,
antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury) and essential metals (copper, manganese,
selenium and zinc) in maternal and umbilical cord blood samples, with newborn
anthropometric parameters in a predominantly agricultural community of Ebony State,
Nigeria.
Methods
Questionnaires were administered to 60 pregnant women at the Federal Teaching
Hospital in Abakaliki, South-East Nigeria, to collect demographic information and
lifestyle during pregnancy. In addition, we measured several anthropological parameters
of newborns, including head circumference, birth weight and birth length. Furthermore,
cord and maternal blood samples were analysed by the Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass
Spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Results
Most metals had a strong correlation between maternal and cord blood. Maternal
characteristics like sleeping pattern, gestation age at delivery and maternal weight
significantly predicted 76% variations in baby weight. Maternal blood aluminium was
inversely correlated with body weight (r=-0.61) and birth length (r=-0.61). Gestation age
at delivery, maternal weight and baby weight were strong predictors of the baby length.
Toxic metals were associated with altered anthropometric parameters at birth, with
varying contributions to the altered anthropometric outcomes.
Conclusions
Besides the negative effect of toxic metals on newborn anthropometry, we also detected
interesting interactions between metals; maternal exposure to lead negatively correlates
with manganese and zinc in the cord blood, while maternal exposure to aluminium was
positively correlated with copper. These results contribute to the broader understanding
of the environmental effects on maternal and child health.
Description
Keywords
ACE: Public Health and Toxicological Research, ACE-PUTOR, University of Port Harcourt, Cajetan Elochukwu Ilo, Ify L. Nwaogazie, Orish Ebere Orisakwe, cord blood, heavy metals, anthropometric parameters, maternal blood, prevention