Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of low fish consumption on prenatal and early postnatal exposure to mercury species. The samples of umbilical cord blood and maternal milk as well as interviewer-administered questionnaires were collected from 142 Slovak mother-child pairs. The mean total mercury (THg) concentrations in cord blood and milk were 0.949 μg/L and 0.376 μg/kg, respectively. The mean methylmercury (MeHg) concentration in cord blood was 0.504 μg/L. Fish eaters had significantly higher cord blood MeHg concentrations than non-fish eaters (p = 0.030); no difference was found in milk or cord blood THg concentrations. The bivariate analysis showed a positive correlation between cord blood MeHg and consumption of sea fish and shellfish (rs = 0.320, p < 0.001); after adjustment for the potential confounders, the association was weakened (β = 0.173, p = 0.059). Nevertheless, the decision tree method showed sea fish and shellfish consumption to be the best predictor of cord blood MeHg. Furthermore, a negative association was found between THg concentrations in maternal milk and freshwater fish consumption (β = − 0.193, p = 0.017), which might indicate a beneficial effect of freshwater fish consumption. The results suggest there is a need for future research to investigate the benefits versus the adverse effects of low maternal fish consumption on child development.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge Sona Wimmerova, Ph.D., a statistician, and Zuzana Holosova, a Ph.D. student, for their contribution to the present study.
Funding
This work was funded by the project of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic No. 2007/07-SZU-03 and supported by Norwegian Financial Mechanism, European Economic Area Financial Mechanism, and budget of the Slovak Republic (project SK0020). Furthermore, our work was supported by the project “Center of excellence of environmental health”, ITMS No. 26240120033, based on the support of Operational Research and Development Program financed from the European Regional Development Fund.
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Ursinyova, M., Masanova, V., Uhnakova, I. et al. Prenatal and Early Postnatal Exposure to Total Mercury and Methylmercury from Low Maternal Fish Consumption. Biol Trace Elem Res 191, 16–26 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1585-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-018-1585-6