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Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort

BACKGROUND: Lead and mercury are freely transferred across the placenta, while cadmium tends to accumulate in the placenta. Each contributes to adverse neurological outcomes for the child. Although prenatal heavy metal exposure has been linked with an array of neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhoo...

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Autores principales: Taylor, Caroline M., Emond, Alan M., Lingam, Raghu, Golding, Jean
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier Science 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024074/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29723752
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.04.032
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author Taylor, Caroline M.
Emond, Alan M.
Lingam, Raghu
Golding, Jean
author_facet Taylor, Caroline M.
Emond, Alan M.
Lingam, Raghu
Golding, Jean
author_sort Taylor, Caroline M.
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Lead and mercury are freely transferred across the placenta, while cadmium tends to accumulate in the placenta. Each contributes to adverse neurological outcomes for the child. Although prenatal heavy metal exposure has been linked with an array of neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood, its association with the development of motor skills in children has not been robustly studied. AIMS/OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to lead, cadmium and mercury, measured as maternal blood concentrations during pregnancy, and motor skills, measured as subtests of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement ABC) at age 7 years in a large sample of mother–child pairs enrolled in a UK observational birth cohort study (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC). METHODS: Whole blood samples from pregnant women enrolled in ALSPAC were analysed for lead, cadmium and mercury. In a complete case analysis (n = 1558), associations between prenatal blood concentrations and child motor skills assessed by Movement ABC subtests of manual dexterity, ball skills and balance at 7 years were examined in adjusted regression models. Associations with probable developmental coordination disorder (DCD) were also investigated. RESULTS: The mean prenatal blood levels were: lead 3.66 ± 1.55 μg/dl; cadmium 0.45 ± 0.54 μg/l; mercury 2.23 ± 1.14 μg/l. There was no evidence for any adverse associations of prenatal lead, cadmium or mercury exposure with motor skills measured at age 7 years with Movement ABC subtests in adjusted regression models. Further, there were no associations with probable DCD. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence to support a role of prenatal exposure to heavy metals at these levels on motor skills in the child at age 7 years measured using the Movement ABC. Early identification of symptoms of motor skills impairment is important, however, to enable investigation, assessment and treatment.
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spelling pubmed-60240742018-08-01 Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort Taylor, Caroline M. Emond, Alan M. Lingam, Raghu Golding, Jean Environ Int Article BACKGROUND: Lead and mercury are freely transferred across the placenta, while cadmium tends to accumulate in the placenta. Each contributes to adverse neurological outcomes for the child. Although prenatal heavy metal exposure has been linked with an array of neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood, its association with the development of motor skills in children has not been robustly studied. AIMS/OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between prenatal exposure to lead, cadmium and mercury, measured as maternal blood concentrations during pregnancy, and motor skills, measured as subtests of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (Movement ABC) at age 7 years in a large sample of mother–child pairs enrolled in a UK observational birth cohort study (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, ALSPAC). METHODS: Whole blood samples from pregnant women enrolled in ALSPAC were analysed for lead, cadmium and mercury. In a complete case analysis (n = 1558), associations between prenatal blood concentrations and child motor skills assessed by Movement ABC subtests of manual dexterity, ball skills and balance at 7 years were examined in adjusted regression models. Associations with probable developmental coordination disorder (DCD) were also investigated. RESULTS: The mean prenatal blood levels were: lead 3.66 ± 1.55 μg/dl; cadmium 0.45 ± 0.54 μg/l; mercury 2.23 ± 1.14 μg/l. There was no evidence for any adverse associations of prenatal lead, cadmium or mercury exposure with motor skills measured at age 7 years with Movement ABC subtests in adjusted regression models. Further, there were no associations with probable DCD. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence to support a role of prenatal exposure to heavy metals at these levels on motor skills in the child at age 7 years measured using the Movement ABC. Early identification of symptoms of motor skills impairment is important, however, to enable investigation, assessment and treatment. Elsevier Science 2018-08 /pmc/articles/PMC6024074/ /pubmed/29723752 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.04.032 Text en © 2018 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Taylor, Caroline M.
Emond, Alan M.
Lingam, Raghu
Golding, Jean
Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort
title Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort
title_full Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort
title_fullStr Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort
title_full_unstemmed Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort
title_short Prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a UK observational birth cohort
title_sort prenatal lead, cadmium and mercury exposure and associations with motor skills at age 7 years in a uk observational birth cohort
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6024074/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29723752
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2018.04.032
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