Lead Levels in Maternal and Newborns Blood and Hair and Their Impact on Neonatal Anthropometric Measurements | ||||
| Bulletin of Egyptian Society for Physiological Sciences | ||||
| Article 9, Volume 33, Issue 1, June 2013, Page 107-122 PDF (274.47 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/besps.2013.35188 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| Sahar El-DeeK* 1; Zaghloul Mohammed2; Hala Fathy2; Safwat Mohamed3 | ||||
| 1Medical Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Medicine,Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt | ||||
| 2Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Department, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt | ||||
| 3Obstetric and Gynecology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Lead is a toxicant heavy metal which cross the placenta and accumulate in the fetal tissues. Prenatal exposure to lead poses a health threat and causes adverse effects on intrauterine growth and neurodevelopment. The present study aimed to: 1) Determine maternal as well as fetal blood and hair lead levels. 2) Evaluate the correlation between maternal and fetal levels of lead. 3) Study the possible effects of maternal blood lead levels on the anthropometric measurements of their neonates. The study was carried out on 38 pregnant women and their fetuses. All blood and hair samples of the mothers and their fetuses were analyzed for estimation of lead concentration using atomic absorption Spectrophotometer. The results showed significant increase in maternal and fetal blood as well as hair lead. There was statistically significant correlation between maternal and fetal blood lead and maternal and fetal hair lead. The high levels of maternal blood lead affect the anthropometric measurement of the fetus. The affection of dimension of infant growth at level ≥ 10 μg/dl was more than low levels. Also, there was significant negative correlation between maternal blood lead levels and birth weight, fetal length, head circumference, chest circumference and mid-arm circumference. In conclusion, there was highly statistically significant relation between maternal and fetal blood lead levels, hair help in the determination of level of lead exposure as there was significant relation between fetal blood and hair lead levels. Also, lead levels in maternal blood affect neonatal anthropometric measurements. Simple preventive measures may play a role in decreasing maternal blood lead and thereby decreasing trans-placental transfer of lead to the fetus and protect the fetus from adverse effect of lead. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Lead; maternal lead; fetal lead; birth weight; Head circumference | ||||
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