International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Aug;120(8):1208-14. doi: 10.1289/ehp.1003378. Epub 2012 Apr 13.
Exposure to arsenic via drinking water has been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and infant morbidity and mortality. Little is known, however, about the effects of arsenic on child growth.
We assessed potential effects of early-life arsenic exposure on weight and length of children from birth to 2 years of age.
We followed 2,372 infants born in a population-based intervention trial in rural Bangladesh. Exposure was assessed by arsenic concentrations in urine (U-As) of mothers (gestational weeks 8 and 30) and children (18 months old). Child anthropometry was measured monthly in the first year and quarterly in the second. Linear regression models were used to examine associations of U-As (by quintiles) with child weight and length, adjusted for age, maternal body mass index, socioeconomic status, and sex (or stratified by sex).
Median (10th-90th percentiles) U-As concentrations were about 80 (25-400) µg/L in the mothers and 34 (12-159) µg/L in the children. Inverse associations of maternal U-As with child's attained weight and length at 3-24 months were markedly attenuated after adjustment. However, associations of U-As at 18 months with weight and length at 18-24 months were more robust, particularly in girls. Compared with girls in the first quintile of U-As (< 16 µg/L), those in the fourth quintile (26-46 µg/L) were almost 300 g lighter and 0.7 cm shorter, and had adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for underweight and stunting of 1.57 (1.02-2.40) and 1.58 (1.05-2.37), respectively, at 21 months.
Postnatal arsenic exposure was associated with lower body weight and length among girls, but not boys.
通过饮用水摄入砷与不良妊娠结局以及婴儿发病率和死亡率有关。然而，对于砷对儿童生长的影响知之甚少。
我们评估了儿童生命早期砷暴露对出生至 2 岁儿童体重和身长的潜在影响。
我们跟踪了孟加拉国一项基于人群的干预试验中出生的 2372 名婴儿。通过母亲（妊娠 8 周和 30 周）和儿童（18 个月大）尿液中的砷浓度（U-As）来评估暴露情况。在第一年中每月测量儿童的体格，第二年中每季度测量一次。使用线性回归模型，在调整年龄、母亲体重指数、社会经济地位和性别（或按性别分层）后，研究 U-As（五分位数）与儿童体重和身长的关联。
母亲 U-As 的中位数（10 至 90 百分位数）约为 80（25-400）μg/L，儿童 U-As 的中位数（10 至 90 百分位数）约为 34（12-159）μg/L。在调整后，母亲 U-As 与儿童 3-24 个月时的体重和身长呈负相关，这种关联明显减弱。然而，18 个月时 U-As 与 18-24 个月时体重和身长的关联更为显著，尤其是在女孩中。与 U-As 处于第一五分位数（<16μg/L）的女孩相比，U-As 处于第四五分位数（26-46μg/L）的女孩体重轻约 300g，身高矮约 0.7cm，21 个月时体重不足和发育迟缓的调整比值比（95%置信区间）分别为 1.57（1.02-2.40）和 1.58（1.05-2.37）。
出生后砷暴露与女孩体重和身高较低有关，但与男孩无关。
