The Determination of Mercury and Selenium in Maternal and Neonatal Scalp Hair by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry

Razagui, Ibrahim B.; Haswell, Stephen J.

doi:10.1093/jat/21.2.149

Cited by 27 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Mean fetal Hg accumulation (represented by newborn HHg) in these Amazonian populations is higher than that reported for babies of European mothers exposed to dental amalgam fillings [24,25], and seafood [8,26], as well as being higher than in urban Amazonians consuming freshwater fish [3,27], or urban Japanese mothers [28]. It is worth mentioning that the ratios of maternal to fetal HHg in all these studies were quite distinct in magnitude.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Fish Consumption during Pregnancy, Mercury Transfer, and Birth Weight along the Madeira River Basin in Amazonia

Marques

Bernardi

Dórea

et al. 2013

IJERPH

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Birth weight can be a predictor of maternal health issues related to nutrition and environmental contaminants. Total hair mercury (HHg) concentration was studied as an indicator of both fish consumption and methylmercury exposure in mothers (and newborns) living in selected low income areas of the Madeira River basin, Amazonia, Brazil. This cohort study (n = 1,433) consisted of traditional riverines (n = 396), riverines who had moved to urban (n = 676) and rural (n = 67) settings, and tin miner settlers (n = 294). Median maternal HHg was significantly different (p = 0.00001) between riverine (12.1 µg·g−1), rural (7.82 µg·g−1), urban (5.4 µg·g−1), and tin miner (4.5 µg·g−1) groups studied. The same trend (of medians) was observed for newborns’ HHg which also showed significant differences between riverine (3.0 µg·g−1), rural (2.0 µg·g−1), urban (1.5 µg·g−1), and tin miner (0.8 µg·g−1) groups. The correlation between maternal and newborn HHg was statistically significant in the riverine (r = 0.8952; p = 0.0001), urban (r = 0.6744; p = 0.0001), and rural (r = 0.8416; p = 0.0001) groups but not in the mother-infant pairs in the tin miner group (r = 0.0638; p = 0.2752). Birth weight was significantly different among groups but did not show a pattern consistent with that of fish consumption (and HHg). A multiple regression analysis showed that only family income and gestational age had a significant impact on birth weight. Conclusions: Maternal HHg is an important biomarker of maternal fish consumption and of methylmercury exposure during pregnancy. However, in these Amazonian groups, only maternal education and gestational age seemed to affect birth weight positively.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Fish Consumption during Pregnancy, Mercury Transfer, and Birth Weight along the Madeira River Basin in Amazonia

Marques

Bernardi

Dórea

et al. 2013

IJERPH

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“…Both methods have previously been used to assess the impact of heavy metals on human health and disease [16][17][18].…”

Section: Abstract Ivf Heavy Metals Endocrine Disruptorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endocrine disruptor & nutritional effects of heavy metals in ovarian hyperstimulation

Dickerson¹,

Sathyapalan

Knight

et al. 2011

J Assist Reprod Genet

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Purpose There is increasing concern that environmental chemicals have a direct effect on fertility. Heavy metals such as mercury have been shown to affect various organ systems in humans including nervous system and skin, however they could also act as endocrine disrupting chemicals adversely affecting fertility. Metals such as zinc and selenium are essential micronutrients with diverse functions that may be important for reproductive outcomes. We measured mercury, zinc and selenium levels in the hair, a reliable reflection of long term environmental exposure and dietary status, to correlate with the outcome of ovarian hyperstimulation for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment. Methods We analysed the hair of 30 subfertile women for mercury, zinc and selenium using inductively coupled mass spectrometry. Each woman underwent one cycle of IVF treatment. Correlation between the levels of these trace metals and treatment outcomes was investigated.Results Thirty women were recruited with mean (±SD) age of 32.7(4.4) years and BMI of 25.4(5.0)kg/m 2 . Hair mercury concentration showed a negative correlation with oocyte yield (p<0.05,βcoefficient 0.38) and follicle number (p=0.03,β coefficient0.19) after ovarian stimulation. Zinc and selenium levels in hair correlated positively with oocyte yield after ovarian stimulation (p<0.05,β coefficient0.15) and (p=0.03,β coefficient0.21) respectively. Selenium levels in hair correlated significantly with follicle number following stimulation (p=0.04, βcoefficient0.22). There was no correlation between mercury, zinc and selenium in hair and their corresponding serum levels. Conclusion These data suggest that mercury had a deleterious effect whilst there was a positive effect for zinc and selenium in the ovarian response to gonadotrophin therapy for IVF. Hair analysis offers a novel method of investigating the impact of long-term exposure to endocrine disruptors and nutritional status on reproductive outcomes. Keywords IVF . Heavy metals . Endocrine disruptorsSubfertility affects approximately 1 in 6 couples in the developed world [1], a prevalence that is likely to increase as more women delay childbirth to a later age [2]; approximately 28% of couples investigated for subfertility have a diagnosis of 'unexplained subfertility' [3]. Current treatment largely consists of assisted reproductive techniques (ART) such as IVF or IVF-ICSI, often regardless of the underlying cause. The average success rate of 25-30% for ART in Europe remains unchanged over recent years [4], prompting the search for additional factors which may influence fertility treatments and optimise success, and the identification of adverse factors such as endocrine disrupting chemicals.Capsule Mercury concentration in hair had a deleterious effect where as zinc and selenium had a beneficial effect in ovarian response to gonadotrophin therapy for IVF.

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“…The ICP-MS instrument used was a Fisons PlasmaQuad 2 Plus (Fisons Instruments, Winsford, Cheshire, UK). The operating parameters for this instrument, as well as the evaluation of the analytical procedure's accuracy and reproducibility, have been described in previous publications [16,17].…”

Section: Quantitationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparative Evaluation of Three Washing Procedures for Minimizing Exogenous Trace Element Contamination in Fetal Scalp Hair of Various Obstetric Outcomes

Razagui

2008

Biol Trace Elem Res

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A comparative evaluation of three washing methods for removing exogenous elemental contamination from fetal scalp hair is described. A total of 12 samples, including 6 from normal pregnancies and 6 from abruptio placentae (AP) cases, were used. Each was divided into four subsamples, with one left unwashed for comparison, while three were subjected to one of the three washing methods. The first consisted of agitating hair for 5 min in sequential and equal measures (30 ml) of acetone and water, followed by rinsing with acetone, and the process repeated twice. In the second and third, hair was agitated for 30 min in aqueous solutions of sodium lauryl sulfate (0.5%, w/v), and Triton X-100 (0.5%, v/v), respectively, followed by sequential rinsing with deionized water and acetone. After drying and microwave-assisted digestion in concentrated nitric acid, the subsamples' concentrations of zinc, copper, cadmium, lead, mercury and selenium were determined using inductively coupled mass spectrometry. All washed subsamples, irrespective of washing method used, had lower elemental concentrations than the corresponding, unwashed subsamples. These differences, taken as presumptive indicators of exogenous contamination, showed only small variations (<5%) between the three washing methods, irrespective of element, mode of delivery, and obstetric outcome. However, the contamination levels elicited by each of the three methods varied in magnitude according to individual elements, with those of copper being highest, followed by those of zinc, cadmium, mercury, selenium, and lead. They also varied according to obstetric outcome, being highest in the AP subsamples, while in the normal pregnancy group, copper and zinc contamination levels in the subsamples from neonates delivered by elective caesarean section were higher than in those from normal-delivery neonates. The data from this study suggest that the three washing methods used have comparable efficacies in removing exogenous elemental contamination from fetal hair, further inferring that it is probably a simple biological matrix to decontaminate. Possible contributory factors are discussed and contrasted with those affecting adult hair.

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The Determination of Mercury and Selenium in Maternal and Neonatal Scalp Hair by Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry

Cited by 27 publications

References 13 publications

Fish Consumption during Pregnancy, Mercury Transfer, and Birth Weight along the Madeira River Basin in Amazonia

Fish Consumption during Pregnancy, Mercury Transfer, and Birth Weight along the Madeira River Basin in Amazonia

Endocrine disruptor & nutritional effects of heavy metals in ovarian hyperstimulation

A Comparative Evaluation of Three Washing Procedures for Minimizing Exogenous Trace Element Contamination in Fetal Scalp Hair of Various Obstetric Outcomes

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