Mercury (Hg) exposure and its effects on Saudi breastfed infant's neurodevelopment
Autor: | Tahreer Al-Rajudi, Chafica Eltabache, Rola Elkhatib, Iman Al-Saleh, Reem Al-Rouqi, Michael Nester, Mai Abduljabbar |
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Rok vydání: | 2016 |
Předmět: |
Adult
Male Pediatrics medicine.medical_specialty Adolescent Developmental Disabilities Population Saudi Arabia Denver Developmental Screening Test Breastfeeding Mothers Urine 010501 environmental sciences Breast milk 01 natural sciences Young Adult 03 medical and health sciences chemistry.chemical_compound Child Development 0302 clinical medicine Humans Medicine 030212 general & internal medicine education Methylmercury 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Psychomotor learning education.field_of_study Reference dose Milk Human business.industry Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Infant Mercury Methylmercury Compounds Middle Aged Breast Feeding Cross-Sectional Studies chemistry Maternal Exposure Female business Water Pollutants Chemical Environmental Monitoring Hair |
Zdroj: | International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health. 219:129-141 |
ISSN: | 1438-4639 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.ijheh.2015.10.002 |
Popis: | This cross-sectional study analyzed mercury (Hg) levels in healthy Saudi mothers and their infants (age 3-12 months) and examined the influence of Hg on the infants' neurodevelopment using screening tools, such as the Denver Developmental Screening Test II (DDST-II) and Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS). A total of 944 mothers and their 944 infants were recruited from 57 Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) in Riyadh. The total Hg (THg) levels were measured in the mothers' and infants' urine (UTHg-M and UTHg-I) and hair (HTHg-M and HTHg-I) samples and in the breast milk and mothers' blood. Methylmercury (MeHg) levels were determined in hair samples from the mothers (MeHg-M) and infants (MeHg-I). Only 40.1% of the infants were breast-fed when enrolled, and 59.9% had stopped breastfeeding. Only 1.8% of the mothers and 0.3% of the infants had MeHg levels above the Environmental Proection Agency (EPA) reference dose (1 μg/g), with low medians of 0.132 and 0.091 μg/g dw, respectively, but the MeHg levels were significantly associated with infant DDST-II performance. The levels of corrected UTHg-M for creatinine (Cr), HTHg-M, HTHg-I, and HMeHg-M, however, displayed an association with infant PEDS performance. The medians and percentage of the tested population that exceeded the recommended limits for Hg in urine and hair set by the World Health Organization (5 μg/g Cr) and EPA (1 μg/g) were 0.695 μg/g Cr and 3% UTHg, 0.118 μg/g dw and 4.1% HTHg-M, 0.101 μg/g dw and 2.8% HTHg-I, and 0.132 μg/g dw and 1.8% HMeHg-M. Our study provides evidence of an association between some Hg measures and delays in infant neurodevelopment, despite their low levels and regardless of the infant's breastfeeding status. The results are of potential concern, because delayed psychomotor or mental performance in infants could be an indicator of later neurocognitive development in children, which may persist into adulthood, as shown in other studies. The absence of local standardization of the DDST-II and PEDS screening tools might raise some questions, although the DDST-II has been used in local institutions for a number of years. The development of effective standardized developmental screening tools is necessary to ensure that all children at risk of neurodevelopmental problems early in life are identified so that they can receive appropriate and timely intervention. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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