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[Lead exposure level in umbilical cord blood and its related factors]
1Center for Prevention and Treatment of Child Lead Poisoning, Shanghai Second Medical University.
Insights
Maternal exposure to environmental lead, including passive smoking, poses risks to fetal development. Over 40% of umbilical cord blood samples in Shanghai exceeded safety levels, highlighting significant lead pollution concerns.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Health
- Toxicology
- Pediatrics
Context:
- Umbilical cord blood lead levels serve as a critical indicator of fetal exposure to lead.
- Shanghai, a major metropolitan area, faces potential environmental lead contamination.
- Assessing lead exposure in pregnant women is crucial for understanding risks to unborn children.
Purpose:
- To determine fetal exposure to lead in Shanghai's population.
- To identify significant risk factors associated with elevated umbilical cord blood lead levels.
- To analyze the impact of environmental and social factors on lead exposure during pregnancy.
Summary:
- Blood lead levels were measured in 348 umbilical cord blood specimens from Shanghai.
- A mean lead level of 0.44 mumol/L was observed, with 40.8% exceeding the safety criterion of 0.48 mumol/L.
- Risk factors identified include passive smoking, household lead exposure, proximity to traffic, coal smoke pollution, domestic coal use, and consumption of preserved eggs during pregnancy.
Impact:
- Passive smoking was identified as a statistically significant risk factor for fetal lead exposure, even after adjusting for other variables.
- Environmental lead pollution presents adverse effects on fetal development.
- Findings underscore the need for public health interventions to reduce lead exposure in pregnant populations.
Abstract:
Six hundred and five specimens of umbilical cord blood were collected from Yangpu District, Shanghai, and blood lead levels were determined with graphite stove atom absorption spectrophotometry in 348 of them to study fetal exposure to lead and its related factors in the people of Shanghai. Survey on household social and environmental health status was conducted in families with the babies whose umbilical cord blood lead were above the 70th percentile and below the 30th percentile with a face-to-face questionnaire. Data were analyzed with multiple regression for the factors which affected the lead level in umbilical cord blood significantly. Results showed that blood lead levels in 348 cases were normally distributed, with a range of 0.08 to 0.84 mumol/L, a mean of 0.44 mumol/L and a standard deviation of 0.15 mumol/L. Specimens with cord blood lead level exceeding the safety criteria of 0.48 mumol/L accounted for 40.8 percent of the total. The study also found that passive smoking during pregnancy, exposure to lead in family members, one's living room adjacent to the major traffic roads, pollution by coal-burning smoke in the environment of one's residence, use of coal as domestic fuel, and eating preserved eggs during pregnancy all were risk factors for lead exposure. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that contribution of passive smoking to cord blood lead level was still statistically significant after adjusting other confounding factors. It concluded that environmental lead pollution could cause ad-verse effects on fetal development.