Association of placental weight at birth with maternal whole blood concentration of heavy metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, selenium, and manganese): The Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS)
- PMID: 38759546
- DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108725
Association of placental weight at birth with maternal whole blood concentration of heavy metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, selenium, and manganese): The Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS)
Abstract
Background: Lifelong health is dependent on prenatal growth and development, influenced by the placental intrauterine environment. Charged with dual functions--exchange of oxygen and nutrients as well as a barrier against toxins--the placenta itself is susceptible to environmental exposure to heavy metals.
Objective: To examine the use of placenta weight as a biomarker for heavy metal exposure using a large Japanese cohort of pregnant women.
Methods: The placenta weight, as a biomarker of exposure to heavy metals (cadmium, lead, and mercury), was investigated using data from the Japan Environment and Children's Study (2011-2014). Selenium and manganese were included as factors directly affecting fetal growth or heavy metal toxicity. Maternal blood samples collected in the second or third trimester were used to measure heavy metal concentrations. The association between maternal blood metal concentrations and placenta weight was explored by applying Z scores and multivariable logistic regression analysis and classifying participants into quartiles (Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4) according to metal concentrations.
Results: This study included a total of 73,005 singleton pregnant women who delivered via live births and met the inclusion criteria. The median heavy metal concentrations in the maternal whole blood were 0.662 ng/g cadmium, 5.85 ng/g lead, 3.61 ng/g mercury, 168 ng/g selenium, and 15.3 ng/g manganese. Regression analysis revealed a significant correlation between placenta weight Z scores and maternal blood metal concentrations: cadmium, 0.0660 (standard error = 0.0074, p < 0.001); selenium, -0.3137 (standard error = 0.0276, p < 0.001); and manganese, 0.1483 (standard error = 0.0110, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: This study provides a robust examination of the association between heavy metal exposure and placenta weight. Cadmium and manganese showed a positive correlation with significant differences, whereas selenium showed a negative correlation. Essential elements notably affect placenta weight differently. No significant association was noted between lead or mercury and placenta weight.
Keywords: Heavy metal; Maternal blood concentration; Placenta weight.
Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Similar articles
-
Individual and mixed metal maternal blood concentrations in relation to birth size: An analysis of the Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS).Environ Int. 2022 Jul;165:107318. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107318. Epub 2022 May 23. Environ Int. 2022. PMID: 35679738
-
Association between maternal blood or cord blood metal concentrations and catch-up growth in children born small for gestational age: an analysis by the Japan environment and children's study.Environ Health. 2024 Feb 10;23(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s12940-024-01061-7. Environ Health. 2024. PMID: 38336787 Free PMC article.
-
Heavy metals (lead, cadmium and mercury) in maternal, cord blood and placenta of healthy women.Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2011 Mar;214(2):79-101. doi: 10.1016/j.ijheh.2010.10.001. Epub 2010 Nov 18. Int J Hyg Environ Health. 2011. PMID: 21093366
-
A State-of-the-Science Review on Metal Biomarkers.Curr Environ Health Rep. 2023 Sep;10(3):215-249. doi: 10.1007/s40572-023-00402-x. Epub 2023 Jun 20. Curr Environ Health Rep. 2023. PMID: 37337116 Free PMC article. Review.
-
The role of the placenta in fetal exposure to heavy metals.Wien Med Wochenschr. 2012 May;162(9-10):201-6. doi: 10.1007/s10354-012-0074-3. Wien Med Wochenschr. 2012. PMID: 22717874 Review.
Cited by
-
Quality assurance and quality control for human biomonitoring data-focus on matrix reference materials.Anal Bioanal Chem. 2025 Jul;417(16):3513-3528. doi: 10.1007/s00216-025-05859-3. Epub 2025 Apr 22. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2025. PMID: 40259016 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Tobacco exposure and risk of spontaneous abortion, a dose-dependent association: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Tob Induc Dis. 2025 Aug 1;23. doi: 10.18332/tid/207156. eCollection 2025. Tob Induc Dis. 2025. PMID: 40757095 Free PMC article.
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous