Assessing a New Method for Measuring Fetal Exposure to Mercury: Newborn Bloodspots

Jessica W. Nelson, Betsy L. Edhlund, Jean Johnson, Christina E. Rosebush, Zachary S. Holmquist, Shanna H. Swan and Ruby H. N. Nguyen
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Jessica W. Nelson: Environmental Tracking and Biomonitoring Program, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164, USA
Betsy L. Edhlund: Public Health Laboratory, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164, USA
Jean Johnson: Environmental Tracking and Biomonitoring Program, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164, USA
Christina E. Rosebush: Environmental Tracking and Biomonitoring Program, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN 55164, USA
Zachary S. Holmquist: Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA
Shanna H. Swan: Department of Preventive Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Ruby H. N. Nguyen: Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55454, USA

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-8

Abstract: Background: Measuring mercury in newborn bloodspots to determine fetal exposures is a novel methodology with many advantages. Questions remain, however, about its reliability as an estimate of newborn exposure to mercury. Methods: We studied mercury concentrations in paired bloodspots and cord blood from a convenience sample of 48 Minnesota women and infants. Results: The limit of detection for bloodspots was higher than for cord blood (0.7 and 0.3 ?g/L in bloodspots and cord blood, respectively) with the result that mercury was detected in only 38% of newborn bloodspots compared to 62% of cord blood samples. The geometric mean mercury concentration in cord blood was 0.6 ?g/L. Mercury concentrations were almost uniformly lower in bloodspots than in cord blood (mean ratio (±SD) = 0.85 ± 0.4), their mean value was significantly less than that for the cord blood ( p = 0.02), and the two methods were highly correlated ( r = 0.82). Conclusion: These preliminary findings indicate that newborn bloodspot mercury measurements have utility; however, until bloodspot analyses are more sensitive, they are likely to underestimate in utero exposure.

Keywords: mercury; biomonitoring; newborn bloodspots; cord blood; fetal exposure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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