Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Postbox 4404, Nydalen, NO 0403 Oslo, Norway.
Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Postbox 4404, Nydalen, NO 0403 Oslo, Norway.
Environ Int. 2018 Jan;110:71-79. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2017.10.008. Epub 2017 Oct 28.
Methyl mercury (MeHg) is a well-known neurotoxin and evidence suggests that also low level exposure may affect prenatal neurodevelopment. Uncertainty exists as to whether the maternal MeHg burden in Norway might affect child neurodevelopment.
To evaluate the association between prenatal mercury exposure, maternal seafood consumption and child language and communication skills at age five.
The study sample comprised 38,581 mother-child pairs in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. Maternal mercury blood concentration in gestational week 17 was analysed in a sub-sample of 2239 women. Prenatal mercury exposure from maternal diet was calculated from a validated FFQ answered in mid-pregnancy. Mothers reported children's language and communications skills at age five by a questionnaire including questions from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ), the Speech and Language Assessment Scale (SLAS) and the Twenty Statements about Language-Related Difficulties (language 20). We performed linear regression analyses adjusting for maternal characteristics, nutritional status and socioeconomic factors.
Median maternal blood mercury concentration was 1.03μg/L, dietary mercury exposure was 0.15μg/kgbw/wk, and seafood intake was 217g/wk. Blood mercury concentrations were not associated with any language and communication scales. Increased dietary mercury exposure was significantly associated with improved SLAS scores when mothers had a seafood intake below 400g/wk in the adjusted analysis. Sibling matched analysis showed a small significant adverse association between those above the 90th percentile dietary mercury exposure and the SLAS scores. Maternal seafood intake during pregnancy was positively associated with the language and communication scales.
Low levels of prenatal mercury exposure were positively associated with language and communication skills at five years. However, the matched sibling analyses suggested an adverse association between mercury and child language skills in the highest exposure group. This indicates that prenatal low level mercury exposure still needs our attention.
甲基汞（MeHg）是一种众所周知的神经毒素，有证据表明，即使低水平暴露也可能影响产前神经发育。目前挪威的母体甲基汞负荷是否会影响儿童神经发育还存在不确定性。
评估产前汞暴露、母体海鲜消费与 5 岁儿童语言和沟通技能之间的关系。
本研究样本包括挪威母婴队列研究中的 38581 对母婴。在 2239 名孕妇中分析了妊娠第 17 周时的母体血液汞浓度。从中期妊娠回答的经过验证的 FFQ 中计算出母体饮食中的产前汞暴露量。母亲在孩子 5 岁时通过问卷报告其语言和沟通技能，问卷包括来自年龄与阶段问卷（ASQ）、言语和语言评估量表（SLAS）和 20 项语言相关困难陈述（语言 20）的问题。我们进行了线性回归分析，调整了母体特征、营养状况和社会经济因素。
母体血液汞浓度中位数为 1.03μg/L，饮食汞暴露量为 0.15μg/kgbw/wk，海鲜摄入量为 217g/wk。血液汞浓度与任何语言和沟通量表均无关联。在调整分析中，当母亲海鲜摄入量低于 400g/wk 时，饮食汞暴露增加与 SLAS 评分显著提高相关。同胞匹配分析显示，在饮食汞暴露量处于第 90 百分位数以上的儿童中，饮食汞暴露与 SLAS 评分之间存在较小的显著负相关。妊娠期间母体海鲜摄入量与语言和沟通量表呈正相关。
低水平的产前汞暴露与 5 岁时的语言和沟通技能呈正相关。然而，匹配的同胞分析表明，在最高暴露组中，汞与儿童语言技能之间存在不良关联。这表明产前低水平的汞暴露仍需要我们关注。
