Prenatal Mercury Exposure in Pregnant Women from Suriname’s Interior and Its Effects on Birth Outcomes

Gaitree K. Baldewsingh, Jeffrey K. Wickliffe, Edward D. van Eer, Arti Shankar, Ashna D. Hindori-Mohangoo, Emily W. Harville, Hannah H. Covert, Lizheng Shi, Maureen Y. Lichtveld and Wilco C.W.R. Zijlmans
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Gaitree K. Baldewsingh: Medical Mission Primary Health Care Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname
Jeffrey K. Wickliffe: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
Edward D. van Eer: Medical Mission Primary Health Care Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname
Arti Shankar: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
Ashna D. Hindori-Mohangoo: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
Emily W. Harville: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
Hannah H. Covert: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
Lizheng Shi: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
Maureen Y. Lichtveld: School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA
Wilco C.W.R. Zijlmans: Faculty of Medical Sciences, Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: Prenatal mercury (Hg) exposure was determined in a sub-cohort of the Caribbean Consortium for Environmental and Occupational Health’s environmental epidemiologic prospective cohort study of pregnant women living in Suriname’s interior. The associations between Hg exposure, low birth weight (LBW, <2500 g) and preterm birth (PTB, <37 weeks) were explored. Correlation analysis, Fisher’s exact test and logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the associations between maternal hair Hg levels and birth weight, LBW and PTB, and between potential confounders, LBW and PTB, respectively. Among 204 singleton births were 198 live births, five stillbirths and one miscarriage. The mean participant age was 26 years; 15.7% of participants had PTBs and 8.1% delivered a child with a LBW. The median hair Hg level was 3.48 μg/g hair. Low hair Hg exposure, based on lowest tertile < 2.34 μg/g, was associated with LBW (OR = 7.2; 95% CI 1.5–35.6; p = 0.015); this association was independent of maternal age, ethnic background, household income and village location, and no correlation was found between hair Hg and PTB. Young maternal age was associated with PTB (RR = 5.09, 95% CI: 1.92–13.85; p = 0.0004) while maternal age was not associated with hair Hg or LBW. The impact of prenatal Hg exposure on pediatric neurodevelopment is currently being evaluated in the infant sub-cohort.

Keywords: mercury; prenatal exposure; birth outcomes; indigenous; tribal; Suriname (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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