Background: Limited epidemiologic data exist on prenatal arsenic exposure and fetal growth, particularly in the context of co-exposure to other toxic metals.
Objective: We examined whether prenatal arsenic exposure predicts birth outcomes among a rural U.S. population, while adjusting for exposure to lead and manganese.
Methods: We collected maternal and umbilical cord blood samples at delivery from 622 mother–infant pairs residing near a mining-related Superfund site in Northeast Oklahoma. Whole blood arsenic, lead, and manganese were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We modeled associations between arsenic concentrations and birth weight, gestational age, head circumference, and birth weight for gestational age.
Results: Median (25th–75th percentile) maternal and umbilical cord blood metal concentrations, respectively, were as follows: arsenic, 1.4 (1.0–2.3) and 2.4 (1.8–3.3) μg/L; lead, 0.6 (0.4–0.9) and 0.4 (0.3–0.6) μg/dL; manganese, 22.7 (18.8–29.3) and 41.7 (32.2–50.4) μg/L. We estimated negative associations between maternal blood arsenic concentrations and birth outcomes. In multivariable regression models adjusted for lead and manganese, an interquartile range increase in maternal blood arsenic was associated with –77.5 g (95% CI: –127.8, –27.3) birth weight, –0.13 weeks (95% CI: –0.27, 0.01) gestation, –0.22 cm (95% CI: –0.42, –0.03) head circumference, and –0.14 (95% CI: –0.24, –0.04) birth weight for gestational age z-score units. Interactions between arsenic concentrations and lead or manganese were not statistically significant.
Conclusions: In a population with environmental exposure levels similar to the U.S. general population, maternal blood arsenic was negatively associated with fetal growth. Given the potential for relatively common fetal and early childhood arsenic exposures, our finding that prenatal arsenic can adversely affect birth outcomes is of considerable public health importance.
1Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 2Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; 3Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 4Local Environmental Action Demanded (L.E.A.D.) Agency, Inc., Vinita, Oklahoma, USA; 5Division of Environmental Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA; 6Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA; 7Department of Neurology, and 8Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Recommended Citation:
Birgit Claus Henn,1 Adrienne S. Ettinger,2 Marianne R. Hopkins,et al. Prenatal Arsenic Exposure and Birth Outcomes among a Population Residing near a Mining-Related Superfund Site[J]. Environmental Health Perspectives,2016-01-01,Volume 124(Issue 8):1308