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Prenatal Mercury Exposure and Birth Weight.

Author
Abstract
:

Adverse effects of prenatal mercury exposure on pregnancy outcomes remain a public health concern. We assessed the relationship between prenatal mercury exposure and newborn anthropometric characteristics in 334 mother-child pairs from the early stages of pregnancy to delivery in Tokyo, Japan, between December 2010 and October 2012. We found a negative correlation between blood mercury levels during the first and second trimesters of gestation and birth weight (r = -0.134 and -0.119, respectively; p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed the relationship between first-trimester maternal blood mercury levels and birth weight when adjusted for independent variables (β = -0.170, t = -2.762; p = 0.006). Mean mercury levels in umbilical cord blood were twice as high as maternal blood levels (10.15 ± 7.74 and 4.97 ± 3.25 μg/L, respectively; r = 0.974, p < 0.001). Our findings suggest that pregnant women and women of reproductive age should avoid mercury exposure, even at low levels, because of its potentially adverse effects on fetal development.

Year of Publication
:
2018
Journal
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Reproductive toxicology (Elmsford, N.Y.)
Date Published
:
2018
ISSN Number
:
0890-6238
URL
:
http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0890-6238(17)30133-8
DOI
:
10.1016/j.reprotox.2018.01.002
Short Title
:
Reprod Toxicol
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