Jedrychowski Wiesław, Perera Frederica, Rauh Virginia, Flak Elzbieta, Mróz Elzbieta, Pac Agnieszka, Skolicki Zbigniew, Kaim Irena
Chair of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Jagiellonian University, Kopernika 7A, 31-034 Kraków, Poland.
Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2007;20(1):31-7. doi: 10.2478/v10001-007-0002-8.
The purpose of this study was to estimate the amount of absorbed mercury (Hg) by mothers and their infants as a result of fish consumption during pregnancy.
The cohort consisted of 313 mother-infant pairs recruited initially from ambulatory prenatal clinics in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy. The customary pattern of fish consumption during pregnancy reported by mothers was correlated with Hg levels in cord and maternal blood at delivery. Blood Hg level was measured using atomic absorption spectrometry.
The mean Hg concentration in cord blood was markedly higher than in maternal blood at delivery (1.09 microg/L; 95%CI: 1.00-1.13 microg/L vs. 0.83 microg/L, 95%CI: 0.76-0.91 microg/L). There was significant correlation (r(s)=0.62, 95%CI: 0.55-0.69) between Hg levels in cord and maternal blood. The overall ratio of Hg in cord blood vs. maternal blood was 1.7 (95%C: 1.50-1.89). Fish consumed during the last pregnancy trimester correlated stronger with umbilical cord concentrations (r(s)=0.32; 95%CI: 0.22-0.40) than with Hg in maternal blood (r(s)=0.23; 95%CI: 0.14-0.33).
The study shows that in Poland, babies are exposed to moderate levels of mercury prior to birth and that fish eating in pregnancy significantly contributes to prenatal Hg exposure. The findings also suggest that the level of cord blood Hg should not be used for describing inter-individual differences in maternal exposure to Hg unless a proper correction factor is introduced.
本研究旨在估算孕期母亲及其婴儿因食用鱼类而吸收的汞（Hg）量。
该队列由313对母婴组成，最初是在妊娠前三个月和第二个三个月从门诊产前诊所招募的。母亲报告的孕期鱼类消费习惯模式与分娩时脐带血和母体血中的汞水平相关。使用原子吸收光谱法测量血汞水平。
分娩时脐带血中的汞平均浓度明显高于母体血（1.09微克/升；95%可信区间：1.00 - 1.13微克/升，而母体血为0.83微克/升，95%可信区间：0.76 - 0.91微克/升）。脐带血和母体血中的汞水平之间存在显著相关性（斯皮尔曼相关系数r(s)=0.62，95%可信区间：0.55 - 0.69）。脐带血与母体血中汞的总体比例为1.7（95%可信区间：1.50 - 1.89）。妊娠最后三个月食用的鱼类与脐带血汞浓度的相关性更强（r(s)=0.32；95%可信区间：0.22 - 0.40），而与母体血汞的相关性较弱（r(s)=0.23；95%可信区间：0.14 - 0.33）。
该研究表明，在波兰，婴儿在出生前接触到中等水平的汞，孕期食用鱼类是产前汞暴露的重要原因。研究结果还表明，除非引入适当的校正因子，否则脐带血汞水平不应被用于描述母体汞暴露的个体差异。
