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Levels of Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in Umbilical Cord Blood and the Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: a Population-Based Study

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Abstract

To better understand the relationship between prenatal exposure to heavy metals and trace elements and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, we investigated the status of heavy metals and trace elements level in a Chinese population by collecting umbilical cord blood. Umbilical cord blood heavy metals and trace elements concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. No differences with statistical significance in the median arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), strontium (Sr), thallium (Tl), vanadium (V), and zinc (Zn) concentrations were observed between the adverse pregnancy outcome group and the reference group. Titanium (Ti) and antimony (Sb) were found at higher levels with statistical significance in the cord blood samples with adverse pregnancy group when compared to the ones in the reference group. The association between Ti levels and the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes remained significant after adjusting for potential confounding factors, including newborn weight. These results indicated that environmental exposure to Ti may increase the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in Chinese women without occupational exposure.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the project of the Xiamen Science and Technology Program (3502Z20114026) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2012121045). We thank Dr. Yixin Yao for her assistance with the English language.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declared no conflicts of interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology, School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361102, China

    Guanchao Zheng, Zhizhun Guo, Chonggang Wang & Zhenghong Zuo

  2. Prenatal Diagnosis Center of Xiamen, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Xiamen, Xiamen, 361003, China

    Hongxiu Zhong & Yulin Zhou

  3. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

    Zhuangchu Wu & Huaiqing Zhang

Authors
  1. Guanchao Zheng
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  2. Hongxiu Zhong
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  3. Zhizhun Guo
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  4. Zhuangchu Wu
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  5. Huaiqing Zhang
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  6. Chonggang Wang
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  7. Yulin Zhou
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  8. Zhenghong Zuo
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yulin Zhou or Zhenghong Zuo.

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Guanchao Zheng and Hongxiu Zhong are co-first authors.

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Zheng, G., Zhong, H., Guo, Z. et al. Levels of Heavy Metals and Trace Elements in Umbilical Cord Blood and the Risk of Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: a Population-Based Study. Biol Trace Elem Res 160, 437–444 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-014-0057-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-014-0057-x

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