Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Effects of intrauterine exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls, methylmercury, and lead on birth weight in Japanese male and female newborns

Authors: Nozomi Tatsuta, Naoyuki Kurokawa, Kunihiko Nakai, Keita Suzuki, Miyuki Iwai-Shimada, Katsuyuki Murata, Hiroshi Satoh

Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine | Issue 1/2017

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The effects of prenatal exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), methylmercury, and lead on birth weight remain disputable. The aim of this study was to investigate whether these chemicals affect birth weight of Japanese newborns, with special emphasis on determining whether these effects differ between males and females.

Methods

The subjects from Tohoku Study of Child Development, which was designed to examine the developmental effects of prenatal exposures to such hazardous chemicals, were 489 mother-newborn pairs with complete data including smoking habit during pregnancy.

Results

The mean birth weight of all newborns was 3083 (range, 2412–4240) g. The median values of biomarkers in cord blood were 46.0 (5th and 95th percentiles, 18.6–113.8) ng/g–lipid for total PCBs, 10.1 (4.3–22.4) ng/g for total mercury (THg), and 1.0 (0.6-1.7) μg/dL for lead. The birth weight was significantly heavier in the 252 male newborns than in the 237 female ones. A negative association between total PCBs and birth weight was observed in both male and female newborns, even after adjusting for possible confounders. However, a negative association of THg with birth weight was found only in the male newborns. There was no significant relationship between lead and birth weight in both groups.

Conclusion

Birth weight appears to be affected by prenatal PCB exposure in Japanese male and female newborns, and the effect of methylmercury exposure on male fetal growth may be stronger than that for females. This implication is that the effects on fetal growth should be assessed in males and females separately.
Literature
1.
Odland JØ, Nieboer E, Romanova N, Thomassen Y, Lund E. Blood lead and cadmium and birth weight among sub-arctic and arctic populations of Norway and Russia. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 1999;78:852–60.CrossRefPubMed
2.
Osman K, Åkesson A, Berglund M, Bremme K, Schütz A, Ask K, et al. Toxic and essential elements in placentas of Swedish women. Clin Biochem. 2000;33:131–8.CrossRefPubMed
3.
Srivastava S, Mehrotra PK, Srivastava SP, Tandon I, Siddigui MKJ. Blood lead and zinc in pregnant women and their offspring in intrauterine growth retardation cases. J Anal Toxicol. 2001;25:461–5.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Schell LM, Denham M, Stark AD, Parsons PJ, Schulte EE. Growth of infants’ length, weight, head and arm circumferences in relation to low levels of blood lead measured serially. Am J Hum Biol. 2009;21:180–7.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
5.
Gundacker C, Fröhlich S, Graf-Rohrmeister K, Eibenberger B, Jessenig V, Gicic D, et al. Perinatal lead and mercury exposure in Austria. Sci Total Environ. 2010;408:5744–9.CrossRefPubMed
6.
7.
Karita K, Sakamoto M, Yoshida M, Tatsuta N, Nakai K, Iwai-Shimada M, et al. Recent epidemiological studies on methylmercury, mercury and selenium. Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi. 2016;71:236–51.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Fein GG, Jacobson JL, Jacobson SW, Schwartz PM, Dowler JK. Prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls: effects on birth size and gestational age. J Pediatr. 1984;105:315–20.CrossRefPubMed
9.
Patandin S, Koopman-Esseboom C, de Ridder MA, Weisglas-Kuperus N, Sauer PJ. Effects of environmental exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and dioxins on birth size and growth in Dutch children. Pediatr Res. 1998;44:538–45.CrossRefPubMed
10.
Rylander L, Strömberg U, Dyremark E, Ostman C, Nilsson-Ehle P, Hagmar L. Polychlorinated biphenyls in blood plasma among Swedish female fish consumers in relation to low birth weight. Am J Epidemiol. 1998;147:493–502.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Halldorsson TI, Thorsdottir I, Meltzer HM, Nielsen F, Olsen SF. Linking exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls with fatty fish consumption and reduced fetal growth among Danish pregnant women: a cause for concern? Am J Epidemiol. 2008;168:958–65.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Dar E, Kanarek MS, Anderson HA, Sonzogni WC. Fish consumption and reproductive outcomes in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Environ Res. 1992;59:189–201.CrossRefPubMed
13.
Vartiainen T, Jaakkola JJK, Saarikoski S, Tuomisto J. Birth weight and sex of children and the correlation to the body burden of PCDDs/PCDFs and PCBs of the mother. Environ Health Perspect. 1998;106:61–6.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
14.
Gladen BC, Shkiryak-Nyzhnyk ZA, Chyslovska N, Zadorozhnaja TD, Little RE. Persistent organochlorine compounds and birth weight. Ann Epidemiol. 2003;13:151–7.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Longnecker MP, Klebanoff MA, Brock JW, Guo X. Maternal levels of polychlorinated biphenyls in relation to preterm and small-for-gestational-age birth. Epidemiology. 2005;16:641–7.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Weisskopf MG, Anderson HA, Hanrahan LP, Kanarek MS, Falk CM, Steenport DM, et al. Maternal exposure to Great Lakes sport-caught fish and dichlorodiphenyl dichloroethylene, but not polychlorinated biphenyls, is associated with reduced birth weight. Environ Res. 2005;97:149–62.CrossRefPubMed
17.
Mendez MA, Plana E, Guexens M, Foradada Morillo CM, Albareda RM, Garcia-Esteban R, et al. Seafood consumption in pregnancy and infant size at birth: results from a prospective Spanish cohort. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010;64:216–22.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Foldspang A, Hansen JC. Dietary intake of methylmercury as a correlate of gestational length and birth weight among newborns in Greenland. Am J Epidemiol. 1999;132:310–7.CrossRef
19.
Ramirez GB, Cruz MCV, Pagulayan O, Ostrea E, Dalisay C. The Tagum Study I: analysis and clinical correlates of mercury in maternal and cord blood, breast milk, meconium, and infants’ hair. Pediatrics. 2000;106:774–81.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Ramon R, Ballester F, Aguinagalde X, Amurrio A, Vioque J, Lacasaria M, et al. Fish consumption during pregnancy, prenatal mercury exposure, and anthropometric measures at birth in a prospective mother-infant cohort study in Spain. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009;90:1047–55.CrossRefPubMed
21.
Drouillet-Pinard P, Huel G, Slama R, Forhan A, Sahuquillo J, Goua V, et al. Prenatal mercury contamination: relationship with maternal seafood consumption during pregnancy and fetal growth in the ‘EDEN mother-child’ cohort. Br J Nutr. 2010;104:1096–100.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
22.
Herman HG, Miremberg H, Nini N, Feit H, Schreiber L, Bar J, et al. The effects of maternal smoking on pregnancy outcome and placental histopathology lesions. Reprod Toxicol. 2016;65:23–8.
23.
Curhan GC, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Spiegelman D, Ascherio AL, Stampfer MJ. Birth weight and adult hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity in US men. Circulation. 1996;94:3246–50.CrossRefPubMed
24.
Konishi Y, Kuwabara K, Hori S. Continuous surveillance of organochlorine compounds in human breast milk from 1972 to 1998 in Osaka, Japan. Arch Environ Contam Toxicol. 2001;40:571–8.CrossRefPubMed
25.
Bell ML, Samet JM. Air pollution. In: Frunkin H, editor. Environmental health: from global to local. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Wiley; 2010. p. 387–415.
26.
Strain JJ, Davidson PW, Bonham MP, Duffy EM, Stokes-Riner A, Thurston SW, et al. Associations of maternal long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, methyl mercury, and infant development in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Study. Neurotoxicology. 2008;29:776–82.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
27.
Miyashita C, Sasaki S, Ikeno T, Araki A, Ito S, Kajiwara J, et al. Effects of in utero exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls, methylmercury, and polyunsaturated fatty acids on birth size. Sci Total Environ. 2015;533:256–65.CrossRefPubMed
28.
Hertz-Picciotto I, Charies MJ, James RA, Keller JA, Willman E, Teplin S. In utero polychlorinated biphenyl exposures in relation to fetal and early childhood growth. Epidemiology. 2005;16:648–56.CrossRefPubMed
29.
Sonneborn D, Park HY, Petrik J, Kocan A, Palkovicova L, Trnovec T, et al. Prenatal polychlorinated biphenyl exposures in eastern Slovakia modify effects of social factors on birthweight. Paediatr Perinatal Epidemiol. 2008;22:202–13.CrossRef
30.
Suzuki K, Nakai K, Sugawara T, Nakamura T, Ohba T, Shimada M, et al. Neurobehavioral effects of prenatal exposure to methylmercury and PCBs, and seafood intake: neonatal behavioral assessment scale results of Tohoku study of child development. Environ Res. 2010;110:699–704.CrossRefPubMed
31.
Tatsuta N, Nakai K, Murata K, Suzuki K, Iwai-Shimada M, Yaginuma-Sakurai K, et al. Prenatal exposures to environmental chemicals and birth order as risk factors for child behavior problems. Environ Res. 2012;114:47–52.CrossRefPubMed
32.
Tatsuta N, Nakai K, Murata K, Suzuki K, Iwai-Shimada M, Kurokawa N, et al. Impacts of prenatal exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls, methylmercury and lead on intellectual ability of 42-month-old children in Japan. Environ Res. 2014;133:321–6.CrossRefPubMed
33.
Tatsuta N, Nakai K, Satoh H, Murata K. Impacts of the Great East Japan earthquake on child’s IQ. J Pediatr. 2015;167:745–51.CrossRefPubMed
34.
Nakai K, Suzuki K, Oka T, Murata K, Sakamoto M, Okamura K, et al. The Tohoku Study of Child Development: a cohort study of effects of perinatal exposures to methylmercury and environmentally persistent organic pollutants on neurobehavioral development in Japanese children. Tohoku J Exp Med. 2004;202:227–37.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Nakamura T, Nakai K, Matsumura T, Suzuki S, Saito Y, Satoh H. Determination of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls in breast milk, maternal blood and cord blood from residents of Tohoku, Japan. Sci Total Environ. 2008;394:39–51.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Schisterman EF, Whitcomb BW, Louis GM, Louis TA. Lipid adjustment in the analysis of environmental contaminants and human health risks. Environ Health Perspect. 2005;113:854–7.CrossRef
37.
Schaller KH, Angerer J, Drexler H. Quality assurance of biological monitoring in occupational and environmental medicine. J Chromatogr. 2002;778:403–17.
38.
Kostyniak PJ, Stinson C, Greizerstein HB, Buck JVG, Mendola P. Relation of Lake Ontario fish consumption, lifetime lactation, and parity to breast milk polychlorobiphenyl and pesticide concentrations. Environ Res. 1999;80:S166–74.CrossRefPubMed
39.
Hossain MG, Saw A, Alam R, Ohtsuki F, Kamuarul T. Multiple regression analysis of anthropometric measurements influencing the cephalic index of male Japanese university students. Singapore Med J. 2013;54:516–20.CrossRefPubMed
40.
Taylor CM, Tilling K, Golding J, Emond AM. Low level lead exposure and pregnancy outcomes in an observational birth cohort study: dose-response relationships. BMC Res Notes. 2016;9:291.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
41.
Karmaus W, Zhu X. Maternal concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls and dichlorodiphenyl dichlorethylene and birth weight in Michigan fish eaters: a cohort study. Environ Health. 2004;3:1.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
42.
Wojtyniak BJ, Rabczenko D, Jönsson BAG, Zvezday V, Pedersen HS, Rylander L, et al. Association of maternal serum concentrations of 2,2’,4,4’5,5’-hexachlorobiphenyl (CB-153) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis (p-chlorophenyl)-ethylene (p, p’-DDE) levels with birth weight, gestational age and preterm births in Inuit and European populations. Environ Health. 2010;9:56.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
43.
Verner MA, McDougall R, Glynn A, Andersen ME, Clewell III HJ, Longnecker MP. Is the relationship between prenatal exposure to PCB-153 and decreased birth weight attributable to pharmacokinetics? Environ Health Perspect. 2013;121:1219–24.PubMedPubMedCentral
44.
Yamashita F, Hayashi M. Fetal PCB syndrome: clinical features, intrauterine growth retardation and possible alteration in calcium metabolism. Environ Health Perspect. 1985;59:41–5.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
45.
Sakamoto M, Chan HM, Domingo JL, Kubota M, Murata K. Changes in body burden of mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium and selenium in infants during early lactation in comparison with placental transfer. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2012;84:179–84.CrossRefPubMed
46.
Weihe P, Grandjean P, Jørgensen PJ. Application of hair-mercury analysis to determine the impact of a seafood advisory. Environ Res. 2005;97:201–8.CrossRef
47.
Obi E, Okafor C, Igwebe A, Ebenebe J, Afonne OJ, Ifediata F, et al. Elevated prenatal methylmercury exposure in Nigeria: evidence from maternal and cord blood. Chemosphere. 2015;119:485–9.CrossRefPubMed
48.
Sakamoto M, Nakano A, Akagi H. Declining Minamata male birth ratio associated with increased male fetal death due to heavy methylmercury pollution. Environ Res. 2001;87:92–8.CrossRefPubMed
49.
Konishi K, Sasaki S, Kato S, Ban S, Washino N, Kajiwara J, et al. Prenatal exposure to PCDDs/PCDFs and dioxin-like PCBs in relation to birth weight. Environ Res. 2009;109:906–13.CrossRefPubMed
50.
Grandjean P, Bjerve KS, Weihe P, Steuerwald U. Birthweight in a fishing community: significance of essential fatty acids and marine food contaminants. Int J Epidemiol. 2001;30:1272–8.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Effects of intrauterine exposures to polychlorinated biphenyls, methylmercury, and lead on birth weight in Japanese male and female newborns
Authors
Nozomi Tatsuta
Naoyuki Kurokawa
Kunihiko Nakai
Keita Suzuki
Miyuki Iwai-Shimada
Katsuyuki Murata
Hiroshi Satoh
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine / Issue 1/2017
Print ISSN: 1342-078X
Electronic ISSN: 1347-4715
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-017-0635-6

Other articles of this Issue 1/2017

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 1/2017 Go to the issue

Research article

Associations between accelerometer-measured physical activity and body fatness in school-aged children

Research article

Anorexia nervosa, depression and suicidal thoughts among Chinese adolescents: a national school-based cross-sectional study

Regular Article

The impact of different lenses on visual and musculoskeletal complaints in VDU workers with work-related neck complaints: a randomized controlled trial

Regular Article

Simple reaction time and obesity in children: whether there is a relationship?

Research article

Increase in the prevalence of hypertension among adults exposed to the Great Chinese Famine during early life

Regular Article

Comorbidities according to airflow limitation severity: data from comprehensive health examination in Japan