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Association between prenatal lead exposure and blood pressure in children

Aimin Zhang1, Howard Hu, Brisa N Sánchez

  • 1Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029, USA. aiminz@umich.edu

Environmental Health Perspectives
|September 28, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal lead exposure, specifically from maternal tibia lead, is linked to higher blood pressure in girls. This finding highlights sex-specific risks of early-life lead exposure on hypertension development.

Area of Science:

  • Environmental Health
  • Pediatric Health
  • Toxicology

Background:

  • Adult lead exposure is linked to hypertension.
  • Prenatal nutrition impacts adult hypertension risk.
  • The effect of prenatal toxicant exposure on hypertension risk is understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between prenatal lead exposure and blood pressure (BP) in children aged 7–15.
  • To determine if sex influences the association between prenatal lead exposure and BP.

Main Methods:

  • Evaluated 457 mother-child pairs from a Mexico City birth cohort.
  • Assessed prenatal lead exposure via maternal tibia/patella lead and cord blood lead.
  • Measured child blood pressure using mercury sphygmomanometry.

Main Results:

  • Maternal tibia lead was significantly associated with increased systolic and diastolic BP in girls, but not boys.
  • An interquartile range increase in maternal tibia lead correlated with higher SBP and DBP in girls.
  • Neither patella lead nor cord blood lead showed an association with child BP.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal tibia lead, reflecting cumulative exposure, predisposes girls to higher BP.
  • Sex-specific adaptive responses to early-life lead toxicity may explain observed differences.
  • Prenatal lead exposure is a potential risk factor for hypertension in girls.
Abstract

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