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Determinants affecting the blood mercury levels of preschool children in Shanghai, China: A cross-sectional study

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Abstract

Infants and children are vulnerable to mercury (Hg)-induced toxicity, which has detrimental effects on their neurological development. This study measured blood Hg levels (BMLs) and identified potential factors influencing BMLs, including demographic and socioeconomic factors, lifestyle, and daily dietary habits, among 0 to 7-year-old children in Shanghai. Our study recruited 1474 participants, comprising 784 boys and 690 girls. Basic demographic and lifestyle information were obtained and blood Hg were analyzed using the Direct Mercury Analyzer 80. The blood Hg concentrations of children in Shanghai ranged from 0.01 to 17.20 μg/L, with a median concentration of 1.34 μg/L. Older age, higher familial socioeconomic status, higher residential floors, and a higher frequency of consuming aquatic products, rice, vegetables, and formula milk were identified as risk factors. Other potential influencing factors including the mother’s reproductive history (gravidity and parity), smoking (passive smoking), supplementation of fish oil and calcium need to be further investigated. These findings can be useful in establishing appropriate interventions to prevent children’s high blood Hg concentrations in Shanghai and other similar metropolitan cities.

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Data availability

The dataset of this study is available from the corresponding authors on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was funded by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC1600500), the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81472993). The funders had no role in the conduct of the study, the analysis or interpretation of data, and the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ministry of Education-Shanghai Key Laboratory of Children’s Environmental Health, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No.1665, Kongjiang Road, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Xi Xu, Yu-Qing Wang, Su-Su Wang & Chong-Huai Yan

  2. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Health Risk Assessment, South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Guangzhou, China

    Chen-Yin Dong

  3. Honghui Hospital Affiliated to Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China

    Chun-Ping Hu

  4. School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Li-Na Zhang

  5. Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics, Xinhua Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China

    Zhen-Yan Gao

  6. Children’s Health Department, Shanghai Center for Women and Children’s Health, Shanghai, China

    Min-Ming Li

Authors
  1. Xi Xu
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  2. Yu-Qing Wang
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  3. Chen-Yin Dong
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  4. Chun-Ping Hu
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  5. Li-Na Zhang
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  6. Zhen-Yan Gao
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  7. Min-Ming Li
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  8. Su-Su Wang
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  9. Chong-Huai Yan
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Conceptualization, writing the original draft, methodology, software, and data curation were performed by Xu Xi. Methodology and review the manuscript were performed by Wang Yu-Qing, Dong Chen-Yin, Hu Chun-Ping, and Zhang Li-Na. Samples collection and detection were conducted by Gao Zhen-Yan, and Li Min-Ming. Supervision, reviewing, and editing were carried out by Wang Su-Su, and Yan Chong-Huai. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chong-Huai Yan.

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Competing interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Ethics approval

This research was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Xinhua Hospital affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from children’s parents recruited in the study.

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Xu, X., Wang, YQ., Dong, CY. et al. Determinants affecting the blood mercury levels of preschool children in Shanghai, China: A cross-sectional study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 90980–90992 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-28035-5

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