Pregnant Inuit Women’s Exposure to Metals and Association with Fetal Growth Outcomes: ACCEPT 2010–2015

Per I. Bank-Nielsen, Manhai Long and Eva C. Bonefeld-Jørgensen
Additional contact information
Per I. Bank-Nielsen: Centre for Arctic Health and Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Manhai Long: Centre for Arctic Health and Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Eva C. Bonefeld-Jørgensen: Centre for Arctic Health and Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 7, 1-27

Abstract: Environmental contaminants such as heavy metals are transported to the Arctic regions via atmospheric and ocean currents and enter the Arctic food web. Exposure is an important risk factor for health and can lead to increased risk of a variety of diseases. This study investigated the association between pregnant women’s levels of heavy and essential metals and the birth outcomes of the newborn child. This cross-sectional study is part of the ACCEPT birth cohort (Adaption to Climate Change, Environmental Pollution, and dietary Transition) and included 509 pregnant Inuit women ?18 years of age. Data were collected in five Greenlandic regions during 2010–2015. Population characteristics and birth outcomes were obtained from medical records and midwives, respectively, and blood samples were analyzed for 13 metals. Statistical analysis included one-way ANOVA, Spearman’s rho, and multiple linear and logistic regression analyses. The proportion of current smokers was 35.8%. The levels of cadmium, chromium, and nickel were higher compared to reported normal ranges. Significant regional differences were observed for several metals, smoking, and parity. Cadmium and copper were significantly inversely related to birth outcomes. Heavy metals in maternal blood can adversely influence fetal development and growth in a dose–response relationship. Diet and lifestyle factors are important sources of toxic heavy metals and deviant levels of essential metals. The high frequency of smokers in early pregnancy is of concern, and prenatal exposure to heavy metals and other environmental contaminants in the Greenlandic Inuit needs further research.

Keywords: Greenland; Arctic; heavy metals; perinatal risks; smoking; reproductive health; environmental pollutants (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/7/1171/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/7/1171/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:7:p:1171-:d:218979

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().