Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jan 10:12:1291076.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2024.1291076. eCollection 2024.

Relationship between pregnant women's combined exposure to heavy metals and their offspring's congenital heart defects in Lanzhou, China

Lulu Chen #  1   2 , Yaqin Zhao #  1   2 , Jianhao Sun #  2   3 , Xinjuan Jiao #  1 , Zhenzhen Wu  1   2 , Jian Wang  2 , Jie Qiu  2 , Baohong Mao  1   2 , Qing Liu  1   2
Affiliations

Relationship between pregnant women's combined exposure to heavy metals and their offspring's congenital heart defects in Lanzhou, China

Lulu Chen et al. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Previous research has demonstrated that exposure to individual heavy metals elevates the incidence rate of congenital heart defects (CHDs). However, there is a paucity of data concerning the relationship between combined exposure to multiple heavy metals and the occurrence of CHDs. This study seeks to investigate the association between combined heavy metal exposure in pregnant women and the incidence of CHDs in their offspring in Lanzhou, China.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive review of the birth cohort study undertaken at our hospital from 2010 to 2012, with the objective of investigating the association between combined heavy metal exposure in pregnant women and the incidence of CHDs in their offspring. This analysis was performed utilizing a multifactorial conditional logistic regression model.

Result: A nested case-control study was conducted involving 97 case groups and 194 control groups. The median concentrations of nickel (Ni), barium (Ba), lead (Pb), and titanium (Ti) in the blood of pregnant women were measured at 25.58 μg/L, 84.38 μg/L, 69.67 μg/L, and 304.65 μg/L, respectively. The research identified a significant correlation between the concentrations of Ni, Pb, and Ti in the blood of pregnant women and the risk of CHDs (P < 0.05). The optimal cut-off for heavy metals in pregnant women's blood was determined using the ROC curve. Levels below this threshold indicated low exposure, while levels at or above it indicated high exposure. In comparison to low exposure levels, high exposure to nickel (≥189.29 μg/L) in pregnant women was associated with a 2.098-fold increase in the risk of CHDs in their offspring (OR = 3.098, 95% CI: 1.322-7.260). Similarly, high lead exposure (≥86.70 μg/L) resulted in a 1.192-fold increase in the risk of CHDs in offspring (OR = 2.192, 95% CI: 1.021-4.707). Furthermore, high exposure to titanium (≥404.22 μg/L) was linked to a 3.065-fold increase in the risk of CHDs in offspring (OR = 4.065, 95% CI: 1.887-8.758). When compared to low exposure levels, the combined exposure to four heavy metals in the blood of pregnant women is linked to a 4.946-fold increased risk of CHDs in their offspring (OR= 5.946, 95% CI: 2.872-12.309). A significant correlation was observed between Ti exposure levels and the combined exposure levels of four heavy metals in pregnant women, with respect to the risk of isolated CHDs and multiple CHDs (P < 0.05). Additionally, high Ni exposure levels in pregnant women are associated with an increased risk of multiple CHDs (OR 4.321, 95% CI: 1.646-11.348).

Conclusion: The cumulative exposure levels of Ni, Ba, Pb, and Ti in the blood of pregnant women are correlated with an elevated risk of CHDs in their offspring.

Keywords: combined exposure; congenital heart defects; heavy metals; maternal blood; pregnancy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. This work was supported in part by the Gansu Provincial Science and Technology Department Grant (No. 22JR5RA633), the Science and Technology Department Grant of Lanzhou City (Nos. 2021-1-85 and 2022-5-85), the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province (Grant No. 22JR11RA179), and the General Project of the Joint Scientific Research Fund supported by the Science and Technology Department of Gansu Province (Grant No. 24JRRA935).

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Bruneau BG. The developmental genetics of congenital heart disease. Nature. (2008) 451(7181):943–8. 10.1038/nature06801 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wu W, He J, Shao X. Incidence and mortality trend of congenital heart disease at the global, regional, and national level, 1990–2017. Medicine. (2020) 99(23):e20593. 10.1097/MD.0000000000020593 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang G, Wang B, Yang P. Epigenetics in congenital heart disease. J Am Heart Assoc. (2022) 11(7):e025163. 10.1161/jaha.121.025163 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Roth GA, Abate D, Abate KH, Abay SM, Abbafati C, Abbasi N, et al. Global, regional, and national age-sex-specific mortality for 282 causes of death in 195 countries and territories, 1980–2017: a systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2017. Lancet. (2018) 392(10159):1736–88. 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)32203-7 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Joshi RO, Chellappan S, Kukshal P. Exploring the role of maternal nutritional epigenetics in congenital heart disease. Curr Dev Nutr. (2020) 4(11):nzaa166. 10.1093/cdn/nzaa166 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources