Mercury and lead blood concentrations in pregnant women from 10 caribbean countries

Forde, Martin; Dewailly, Éric; Robertson, Lyndon; Sidi, E; Côté, Sylvie; Sandy, L.; Dumas, Pierre; Ayotte, Pierre

doi:10.1039/c4em00239c

Cited by 12 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…As part of a Canadian Global Health Research Initiative’s (GHRI) Teasdale-Corti grant funded research initiative, a biomonitoring study was conducted to determine prenatal exposures to a number of toxicants ranging from persistent organic pollutants (POPs) (PCBs, organochlorine compounds and polybrominated flame retardant compounds) to commonly used classes of pesticides such as organophosphates, carbamates, phenoxy herbicides, and pyrethroids, two heavy metals mercury and lead, zoonotic infections, and BPA. The findings of these studies have been published elsewhere [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. In this paper, we report on the finding of BPA in pregnant women who live in the 10 English-speaking Caribbean countries where this study was conducted.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Bisphenol A in Pregnant Women from 10 Caribbean Countries

Forde

Côté²,

Sidi³

et al. 2022

Toxics

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Bisphenol A (BPA), a phenolic chemical incorporated into many plastic products, has been found to act as an endocrine disruptor that potentially is linked to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. Prenatal BPA concentration levels were assessed in 10 English-speaking Caribbean countries by randomly selecting 15 maternal urine samples from approximately 50 pregnant women samples collected in each island and then comparing the findings with comparable data from Canada and the U.S. BPA was detected in all samples ranging from a low geometric mean of 1.46 μg/L (St. Lucia) to a high of 4.88 μg/L (St. Kitts & Nevis). All of the Caribbean islands sampled had geometric mean concentration levels that were higher than those recorded in two Canadian biomonitoring surveys (1.26 μg/L and 0.80 μg/L) and the U.S. NHANES survey (1.39 μg/L). This first biomonitoring survey of BPA concentration levels in maternal urine samples taken from Caribbean countries clearly points to the need for Caribbean governments and public health officials to first engage in legislative and regulatory efforts to ban or minimize the importation and use of BPA products used the Caribbean and, second, to continue to conduct biomonitoring surveys so as to ensure that these laws and regulations are indeed leading to a decrease of BPA concentrations in Caribbean populations.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Bisphenol A in Pregnant Women from 10 Caribbean Countries

Forde

Côté²,

Sidi³

et al. 2022

Toxics

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Seroprevalence of five parasitic pathogens in pregnant women in ten Caribbean countries

et al. 2016

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To date, published epidemiological studies of parasitic infections in humans in the Caribbean region are very limited. Here, we report the seroprevalence of five parasitic pathogens, including Ascaris lumbricoides, Entamoeba histolytica, Giardia lamblia, Schistosoma mansoni, and Toxocara canis in 435 serum samples collected between 2008 and 2011 from pregnant women in ten Caribbean islands. We tested the serum samples for IgG antibodies against the five parasites by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Among them, 66.2 % were serologically positive for at least one parasite. The most prevalent parasite was G. lamblia (40.5 %), followed by A. lumbricoides (37.9 %), T. canis (14.5 %), E. histolytica (6.7 %), and S. mansoni (3.0 %). Evidence of infections of G. lamblia and A. lumbricoides were detected in all ten Caribbean countries. Seroprevalence estimates significantly differed between countries for A. lumbricoides, E. histolytica, and T. canis (p values <0.001). For S. mansoni, significance was observed by Fisher's exact test (p = 0.013) but not by multiple comparisons. The prevalence of G. lamblia was not significantly different between countries (p = 0.089). A significant negative correlation between the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and overall seroprevalence by country was also observed (Pearson's r = -0.9202, p = 0.0002). The data strongly indicates that neglected parasitic infections remain a significant health burden on people in these countries. Thus, justification has been provided to regional health planners to enhance existing public health surveillance programs on parasitic diseases and to heighten the public's awareness through education and outreach programs on how they can minimize the occurrence of parasitic infections.

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The extent of mercury (Hg) exposure among Saudi mothers and their respective infants

Al‐Saleh

Abduljabbar

Al-Rouqi

et al. 2015

Environ Monit Assess

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A total of 1016 healthy Saudi mothers and their respective infants (aged 3-12 months) were recruited from 57 Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate the extent of mercury (Hg) exposure and predict its sources in the healthy Saudi population. Total Hg levels were measured in maternal urine, breast milk, blood, and hair and in the infants' urine and hair. Only 1.9% of the mothers had urinary Hg (UHg)>10 μg/l, the limit for asymptomatic adults recommended by the World Health Organization, but the median (0.99 μg/l) was higher than in other countries. Also, 49.3% of the mothers had UHg>1 μg/l, the German reference value for adults. Median infant UHg was 0.729 μg/l, and 77 and 93 % of the infants had levels higher than 0.4 and 0.1 μg/l, the reference values of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and for Germany, respectively. The median Hg level in breast milk was 0.884 μg/l. Even though 43.2% of the milk samples were above the background level for Hg in human milk (1 μg/l), our results were lower than those reported from other countries. Median maternal total Hg in blood was 0.637 μg/l, and only 0.4 and 6.9% of samples were higher than the Hg reference levels of 5.8 μg/l of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and of 2 μg/l for Germany, respectively. Total Hg levels in hair (HHg) varied widely among mothers and infants, but only 3.9% of the mothers and 2.8% of the infants had HHg>1 μg/g (the EPA reference level). Median HHg values were 0.117 μg/g dry weight in mothers and 0.1 μg/g dry weight in infants; both were lower than in other countries. The Hg levels in mothers and their respective infants were relatively low, but our results were consistent with other studies indicating that dental amalgam fillings and fish consumption were the main predictors of maternal Hg exposure. Among the several biomarkers of Hg exposure, Hg levels in maternal hair and urine were the strongest predictors of infant exposure. The lack of an association between Hg in breast milk and Hg in infant urine and hair suggested that the infants were exposed to Hg predominately during pregnancy rather than during breastfeeding. We expect that our data can serve as a baseline for further biomonitoring and follow-up studies, particularly of the long-term impact of Hg on childhood neurodevelopment.

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Mercury and lead blood concentrations in pregnant women from 10 caribbean countries

Cited by 12 publications

References 24 publications

Evaluation of Bisphenol A in Pregnant Women from 10 Caribbean Countries

Evaluation of Bisphenol A in Pregnant Women from 10 Caribbean Countries

Seroprevalence of five parasitic pathogens in pregnant women in ten Caribbean countries

The extent of mercury (Hg) exposure among Saudi mothers and their respective infants

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