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Prenatal exposure to chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) in a sample of Iranian pregnant women: urinary levels and associated socio-demographic and lifestyle factors

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Abstract

Heavy metals have been well documented to pose detrimental health effects. The current study aimed to measure the concentration of chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) in urinary samples of Iranian pregnant females and determine their potential correlations with different lifestyle variables. The study was conducted in 2019–2020 in Isfahan, Iran, and the urine samples were collected from 140 pregnant women. The concentrations of Cr and Ni in the urinary samples were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Data on socio-demographic characteristics, use of cleaning products, and lifestyle profiles was collected by validated questionnaires. Cr and Ni were detected in 100% of urinary samples with the mean concentration of 4.1±3.4 and 7.5±4.8 μg/g creatinine, respectively. Significant associations were found between the mean concentration of Cr and Ni with using cooking utensils made of copper, aluminum, Teflon, steel, and enameled, as well as with cosmetic use, and second-hand smoking exposure during pregnancy. The results also showed that the mean urinary Ni and Cr concentrations were significantly different among individuals who consumed seafood and canned food (p-value <0.05). Furthermore, the mean of urinary Cr and Ni concentrations at high levels of physical activity and scratched utensils used was significantly different from the other categories (p-value <0.05). According to our findings, the lifestyle determinants and cosmetic products had superiority to socio-demographic characteristics in predicting urinary heavy metals in Iranian pregnant women.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Department of Environmental Health Engineering at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) for their assistance.

Data availability and material

The material and raw data are available upon request.

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None.

Funding

This study was financially supported by Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. This paper was extracted from a PhD thesis funded by Isfahan University of Medical Sciences (IR.MUI.RESEARCH.REC.1399.065), and project number # 399025.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Maryam Moradnia, Hossein Movahedian Attar & Farzaneh Mohammadi

  2. Environment Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Hossein Movahedian Attar & Farzaneh Mohammadi

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Zahra Heidari

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

    Roya Kelishadi

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  1. Maryam Moradnia
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  4. Farzaneh Mohammadi
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Contributions

M. Moradnia and H. Movahedian Attar surveyed the studies for data extraction and inclusion, assess the study quality, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript; Z. Heidari performed the data-analysis; F. Mohammadi provided critical input for the manuscript; Roya Kelishadi did critical revision of the manuscript. All authors have contributed considerably, and all authors are in agreement with respect to the manuscript content. The authors read and confirmed the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hossein Movahedian Attar.

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Moradnia, M., Attar, H.M., Heidari, Z. et al. Prenatal exposure to chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) in a sample of Iranian pregnant women: urinary levels and associated socio-demographic and lifestyle factors. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 63412–63421 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15201-w

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