scholarly journals Association of prenatal maternal blood lead levels with birth outcomes in the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS): a nationwide birth cohort study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshihito Goto ◽  
Marie Mandai ◽  
Takeo Nakayama ◽  
Shin Yamazaki ◽  
Shoji F Nakayama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Preterm Delivery ◽  
Birth Outcomes ◽  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Maternal Blood ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Lead Levels ◽  
Prenatal Lead Exposure

Abstract Background Despite dramatic declines in prenatal maternal blood lead levels (BLLs) in most developed countries, little is known about the effects of extremely low-level (<1.0 µg/dL) lead exposure on fetal growth. Methods We measured maternal BLL during the second or third trimester of pregnancy and assessed birth outcomes, including birthweight, preterm birth (<37 gestational weeks) risk, small for gestational age births (SGA; birthweight <10th percentile) and low birthweight (LBW; <2500 g). The association between birthweight and maternal BLL was estimated using linear and quadratic spline models. Multivariable logistic models were used to examine the risk of binary responses. Results From 103 099 pregnant women, 20 000 blood samples were randomly selected for analysis. The maternal BLL range was 0.16–7.4 µg/dL, and the median was 0.63 µg/dL. After adjusting for covariates, the linear model showed that each 0.1 μg/dL increase in maternal BLL was associated with a 5.4 g decrease in mean birthweight [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.4 to 7.5 g]. The risk of SGA [adjusted odds ratio (aOR), 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.05) and LBW (aOR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.05) increased, whereas the risk of preterm delivery did not (aOR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.97 to 1.02). Conclusions Even at a maternal BLL below 1.0 µg/dL, prenatal lead exposure was associated with decreased birthweight and increased risk of SGA and LBW, but not preterm delivery. The adverse effect estimates of prenatal lead exposure on birth outcomes were quantitatively small and clinically limited at this low level.

Low-Level Lead Exposure and Blood Lead Levels in Children: A Cross-Sectional Survey

2001 ◽  
Vol 56 (6) ◽  
pp. 501-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aysha Habib Khan ◽  
Amanullah Khan ◽  
Farooq Ghani ◽  
Muhammad Khurshid
Keyword(s):  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Lead Levels

scholarly journals Prenatal lead exposure in relation to age at menarche: results from a longitudinal study in Mexico City

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 467-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. C. Jansen ◽  
L. Zhou ◽  
P. X. K. Song ◽  
B. N. Sánchez ◽  
A. Mercado ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Regression Models ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Age At Menarche ◽  
Second Trimester ◽  
Interval Censored ◽  
Lead Levels ◽  
Prenatal Lead Exposure

AbstractAnimal and cross-sectional epidemiological studies suggest that prenatal lead exposure is related to delayed menarche, but this has not been confirmed in longitudinal studies. We analyzed this association among 200 girls from Mexico City who were followed since the first trimester of gestation. Maternal blood lead levels were analyzed once during each trimester of pregnancy, and daughters were asked about their first menstrual cycle at a visit between the ages of 9.8 and 18.1 years. We estimated hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for probability of menarche over the follow-up period using interval-censored Cox models, comparing those with prenatal blood lead level ⩾5 µg/dl to those with prenatal blood lead <5 µg/dl. We also estimated HRs and 95% CI with conventional Cox regression models, which utilized the self-reported age at menarche. In adjusted analyses, we accounted for maternal age, maternal parity, maternal education, and prenatal calcium treatment status. Across trimesters, 36−47% of mothers had blood lead levels ⩾5 µg/dl. Using interval-censored models, we found that during the second trimester only, girls with ⩾5 µg/dl prenatal blood lead had a later age at menarche compared with girls with prenatal blood lead levels <5 µg/dl (confounder-adjusted HR=0.59, 95% CI 0.28–0.90; P=0.05). Associations were in a similar direction, although not statistically significant, in the conventional Cox regression models, potentially indicating measurement error in the self-recalled age at menarche. In summary, higher prenatal lead exposure during the second trimester could be related to later onset of sexual maturation.

scholarly journals Exploration-Avoidance and an Anthropogenic Toxin (Lead Pb) in a Wild Parrot (Kea: Nestor notabilis)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Clio Reid
Keyword(s):  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Social Facilitation ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Personality Types ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Lead Levels

<p><b>The ecological study of personality in animals is a relatively new field of behavioural investigation and of increasing importance to wildlife conservation. Kea (Nestor notabilis), hill country parrots endemic to South Island, New Zealand, are a good model for studying personality in an ecological context because they have a neophilic and explorative nature and are accessible for experimentation in the field. The study of personality is relevant to kea conservation if particular personality types (e.g., explorative) cause increased mortality, especially where kea come into contact with anthropogenic dangers. Its relevance may be even greater if, due to kea's social nature, social facilitation spreads that risk to other personality types. In this study I use experimental presentations of novel objects to investigate individual variation in exploration-avoidance behaviour in kea and apply my findings to the risk of lead exposure and poisoning because lead is present as novel objects in kea habitat. Analyses of blood lead levels and reactions to novel objects indicate that sex and age class, but more specifically personality, underlie a kea's reactions to novel objects and lead objects. Kea with explorative personalities have higher blood lead levels than aversive individuals. My results also indicate that social context, i.e., the presence of conspecifics and group size, are influential. Kea are more inclined to investigate novel objects in the presence of conspecifics, indicating that social facilitation plays a role in the exploration of novelty. Significant relationships between dominance category and behavioural response to novel objects indicates that social rank is related to personality, with dominant individuals being more explorative and subordinate individuals less explorative. These results highlight the potentially heavy cost of explorativity where kea and human habitats overlap. Explorative kea may be subject to an increased risk of injury or death and, if they facilitate exploration in aversive kea, increases the risk to those kea as well. Lead is a known cause of death in kea and as such affects kea survival. Lead has also been shown to have deleterious effects on other species at low levels.</b></p> <p>Kea live in a highly seasonal and periodically severe environment, the dangers of which arecompounded by various anthropogenic hazards including lead exposure. Kea are a longlivedand slowreproducing species at a high risk of decline from even a small reduction in itssurvival rate an imposed reduction in numbers could result in nonrecovery.</p>

Fetal and Infant Lead Exposure: Effects on Growth in Stature

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 604-612
Author(s):  
Rakesh Shukla ◽  
Robert L. Bornschein ◽  
Kim N. Dietrich ◽  
C. R. Buncher ◽  
Omer G. Berger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Longitudinal Analysis ◽  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Lead Concentration ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Maternal Blood ◽  
Blood Lead Concentration ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Lead Levels

The growth of a cohort of 260 infants was prospectively followed up from birth. Blood lead and stature measurements were obtained every 3 months until 15 months of age. Fetal lead exposure was indexed by measuring lead in maternal blood during pregnancy. A longitudinal analysis revealed that covariate adjusted growth rates in stature were negatively related to the infants' postnatal blood lead concentration, as indexed by increase in average blood lead values from 3 to 15 months. However, this relationship between growth rate and change in blood lead concentration was evidenced only among those infants whose mothers had prenatal blood lead levels greater than the maternal cohort median of 7.7 γg/dL (P = .01). The expected stature of a child born to a mother with a prenatal blood lead concentration more than 7.7 γg/dL is about 2 cm shorter at 15 months of age if, postnatally, the infant incurred a 10-γg/dL blood lead increase during the 3-to 15-month interval of life, compared with an infant who has no increase.

Low-Level Lead Exposure and Children's Cognitive Function in the Preschool Years

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Bellinger ◽  
Alan Leviton ◽  
Jone Sloman ◽  
Michael Rabinowitz ◽  
Herbert L. Needleman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Blood Lead Level ◽  
Lead Level ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Deciduous Teeth ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Inverse Association ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Visual Spatial ◽  
Lead Levels

In a cohort of 170 middle and upper-middle class children participating in a prospective study of child development and low-level lead exposure, higher blood lead levels at age 24 months were associated with lower scores at age 57 months on the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities. The mean blood lead level at age 24 months was 6.8 µg/dL (SD = 6.3; 75th, 90th, and 99th percentiles: 8.8, 13.7, 23.6, respectively) and for all but 1 child was less than 25 µg/dL, the current definition of an "elevated" level. After adjustment for confounding, scores on the General Cognitive Index decreased approximately 3 points (SE = 1.4) for each natural log unit increase in 24-month blood lead level. The inverse association between lead level and performance was especially prominent for visual-spatial and visual-motor integration skills. Higher prenatal exposures were not associated with lower scores at 57 months except in the subgroup of children with "high" concurrent blood lead levels (ie, ≥10 µg/dL). The concentration of lead in the dentine of shed deciduous teeth was not significantly associated with children's performance after adjustment for confounding.

scholarly journals Exploration-Avoidance and an Anthropogenic Toxin (Lead Pb) in a Wild Parrot (Kea: Nestor notabilis)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Clio Reid
Keyword(s):  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Social Facilitation ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Social Rank ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Personality Types ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Novel Objects ◽  
Lead Levels

<p><b>The ecological study of personality in animals is a relatively new field of behavioural investigation and of increasing importance to wildlife conservation. Kea (Nestor notabilis), hill country parrots endemic to South Island, New Zealand, are a good model for studying personality in an ecological context because they have a neophilic and explorative nature and are accessible for experimentation in the field. The study of personality is relevant to kea conservation if particular personality types (e.g., explorative) cause increased mortality, especially where kea come into contact with anthropogenic dangers. Its relevance may be even greater if, due to kea's social nature, social facilitation spreads that risk to other personality types. In this study I use experimental presentations of novel objects to investigate individual variation in exploration-avoidance behaviour in kea and apply my findings to the risk of lead exposure and poisoning because lead is present as novel objects in kea habitat. Analyses of blood lead levels and reactions to novel objects indicate that sex and age class, but more specifically personality, underlie a kea's reactions to novel objects and lead objects. Kea with explorative personalities have higher blood lead levels than aversive individuals. My results also indicate that social context, i.e., the presence of conspecifics and group size, are influential. Kea are more inclined to investigate novel objects in the presence of conspecifics, indicating that social facilitation plays a role in the exploration of novelty. Significant relationships between dominance category and behavioural response to novel objects indicates that social rank is related to personality, with dominant individuals being more explorative and subordinate individuals less explorative. These results highlight the potentially heavy cost of explorativity where kea and human habitats overlap. Explorative kea may be subject to an increased risk of injury or death and, if they facilitate exploration in aversive kea, increases the risk to those kea as well. Lead is a known cause of death in kea and as such affects kea survival. Lead has also been shown to have deleterious effects on other species at low levels.</b></p> <p>Kea live in a highly seasonal and periodically severe environment, the dangers of which arecompounded by various anthropogenic hazards including lead exposure. Kea are a longlivedand slowreproducing species at a high risk of decline from even a small reduction in itssurvival rate an imposed reduction in numbers could result in nonrecovery.</p>

scholarly journals Sex-Dependent Impact of Low-Level Lead Exposure during Prenatal Period on Child Psychomotor Functions

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 2263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kinga Polanska ◽  
Wojciech Hanke ◽  
Natalia Pawlas ◽  
Ewelina Wesolowska ◽  
Agnieszka Jankowska ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cord Blood ◽  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Psychomotor Development ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Prenatal Period ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Child Neurodevelopment ◽  
Lead Levels ◽  
The Impact

The impact of exposure to lead on child neurodevelopment has been well established. However, sex differences in vulnerability are still not fully explained. We aimed at evaluating the effect of a low-level lead exposure, as measured between 20 to 24 weeks of pregnancy and in cord blood, on developmental scores up to 24 months of age in 402 children from the Polish Mother and Child Cohort (REPRO_PL). Additionally, sex-dependent susceptibility to lead at this very early stage of psychomotor development was assessed. The blood lead levels were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). In order to estimate the children’s neurodevelopment, the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development was applied. The geometric mean (GM) for blood lead level during 20–24 weeks of pregnancy was 0.99 ± 0.15 µg/dL and, in the cord blood, it was 0.96 ± 0.16 µg/dL. There was no statistically significant impact of lead exposure during prenatal period on the girls’ psychomotor abilities. Among the boys, we observed lower scores for cognitive functions, along with increasing cord blood lead levels (β = −2.07; p = 0.04), whereas the results for the language and motor abilities were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Our findings show that fetal exposure to very low lead levels might affect early cognitive domain, with boys being more susceptible than girls. Education on health, higher public awareness, as well as intervention programs, along with relevant regulations, are still needed to reduce risks for the vulnerable population subgroups.

Relationship Between Prenatal Lead Exposure and Infant Blood Lead Levels

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 1518-1524 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie P. Archer ◽  
Carrie M. Bradford ◽  
David M. Klein ◽  
Jim Barnes ◽  
L. J. Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lead Exposure ◽  
Blood Lead ◽  
Blood Lead Levels ◽  
Lead Levels ◽  
Prenatal Lead Exposure
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