Heavy metals and trace elements in maternal blood and prevalence of congenital limb abnormalities among newborns: the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

Bibliographic Details
Title:	Heavy metals and trace elements in maternal blood and prevalence of congenital limb abnormalities among newborns: the Japan Environment and Children’s Study
Authors:	Atsuko Ikeda, Megasari Marsela, Chihiro Miyashita, Takeshi Yamaguchi, Yasuaki Saijo, Yoshiya Ito, Hiroyoshi Iwata, Sachiko Itoh, Mariko Itoh, Keiko Yamazaki, Naomi Tamura, Sumitaka Kobayashi, Reiko Kishi, the Japan Environment and Children’s Study Group
Source:	Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, Vol 29, Pp 36-36 (2024)
Publisher Information:	Komiyama Printing Co. Ltd, 2024.
Publication Year:	2024
Collection:	LCC:Public aspects of medicine
Subject Terms:	heavy metals, trace elements, congenital limb abnormalities, prenatal exposure, children, Public aspects of medicine, RA1-1270
More Details:	Background: Heavy metals such as lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) have been associated with adverse pregnancy and developmental outcomes, including congenital abnormalities. This study investigated the association between exposure to heavy metals and trace elements during fetal life and congenital limb abnormalities in infants. Methods: This study is based on a prospective ongoing nationwide birth cohort from the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS). The concentrations of Cd, Pb, mercury (Hg), selenium (Se), and manganese (Mn) were measured in maternal blood collected during the mid–late trimesters. Inclusion criteria were available from questionnaires filled in during pregnancy, including information about congenital limb abnormalities at birth or at one month. To examine the associations with limb anomalies and individual chemicals, logistic regression models were applied following log-transformation or division into quartiles of Cd, Pb, Hg, Se, and Mn concentrations. To assess the associations with the heavy metals and trace elements mixture, quantile g-computation was employed. All models were adjusted for age, maternal smoking history, maternal alcohol intake, history of smoking, and infant sex. Results: Data from 90,163 participants were included in the analysis, of whom 369 had congenital limb abnormalities in any of the collected information, and 89,794 had none. Among the 369 cases of congenital limb abnormalities, there were 185 and 142 cases of polydactyly and syndactyly, respectively. The median concentrations of Pb, Cd, Hg, Se, and Mn were 5.85, 0.66, 3.64, 168, and 15.3 ng/g, respectively. There were no associations between maternal blood concentrations of Pb [adjusted odd ratio = 0.83; 95% confidence interval = 0.61, 1.11], Cd [0.87; 0.68, 1.10], Hg [0.88; 0.73, 1.07], Se [1.07; 0.44, 2.59], and Mn [0.91; 0.64, 1.30] with congenital limb abnormalities. No significant association was observed between the mixture of heavy metals and trace elements [0.85; 0.72, 1.02] and any congenital limb abnormalities. Moreover, there was no association with all polydactylies and all syndactylies, or any type of abnormality as a subdivision. Conclusion: At the maternal exposure levels of Cd, Pb, Hg, Se, and Mn assessed in the present study, no association was identified with the risk of developing congenital limb abnormalities in children.
Document Type:	article
File Description:	electronic resource
Language:	English
ISSN:	1342-078X 1347-4715
Relation:	https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ehpm/29/0/29_23-00366/_html/-char/en; https://doaj.org/toc/1342-078X; https://doaj.org/toc/1347-4715
DOI:	10.1265/ehpm.23-00366
Access URL:	https://doaj.org/article/c90a3f2144cb4130ba40dd47c73d93f4
Accession Number:	edsdoj.90a3f2144cb4130ba40dd47c73d93f4
Database:	Directory of Open Access Journals

More Details
ISSN:	1342078X 13474715
DOI:	10.1265/ehpm.23-00366
Published in:	Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Language:	English