Wu Mingyang, Shu Yanling, Song Lulu, Wang Youjie
Department of Maternal and Child Health, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, No.172 Tongzipo Road, Changsha 410013, China; Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, China; Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, China.
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Environment and Health, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, China; Department of Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, No.13 Hangkong Road, Wuhan 430030, China.
Ecotoxicol Environ Saf. 2025 Jun 1;297:118232. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoenv.2025.118232. Epub 2025 Apr 23.
Thallium, a highly toxic heavy metal, is well-documented for causing neurodevelopmental toxicity in animal models. However, epidemiological evidence regarding the effects of early-life thallium exposure on human neurodevelopment remains limited.
To investigate the trimester-specific associations of maternal thallium exposure with early childhood neurodevelopment.
A total of 423 mother-child pairs, with trimester-specific urinary samples, were followed up until the children reached 2 years of age. Thallium concentrations were measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, while mental and psychomotor development indexes (MDI and PDI) were evaluated using the Chinese version of Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID-CR). Trimester-specific associations of specific gravity (SG)-adjusted urinary thallium concentrations with neurodevelopment were estimated using a multiple informant model.
After adjusting for potential confounders, each unit increase in thallium exposure during the third trimester was associated with 6.55-point reduction in MDI domain (95 % CI: -12.88 to -0.22) and 7.13-point reduction in PDI domain (95 % CI: -13.51 to -0.74). When performing stratified analyses by child sex, the associations of third-trimester thallium concentrations with PDI were more prominent in boys (β: -9.57; 95 %CI: -17.51 to -1.64) than in girls (β: -0.87; 95 %CI: -14.51-12.76).
This birth cohort study suggests that prenatal thallium exposure during the third trimester, but not during other periods, had detrimental effects on early childhood mental and psychomotor development.
铊是一种剧毒重金属，在动物模型中，其导致神经发育毒性已有充分记录。然而，关于生命早期铊暴露对人类神经发育影响的流行病学证据仍然有限。
研究孕期母亲铊暴露与幼儿神经发育的特定孕期关联。
共有423对母婴，采集了孕期特定阶段的尿液样本，并随访至儿童2岁。使用电感耦合等离子体质谱法测量铊浓度，同时使用中文版贝利婴幼儿发育量表（BSID-CR）评估智力和心理运动发育指数（MDI和PDI）。使用多信息源模型估计经比重（SG）调整的尿铊浓度与神经发育的特定孕期关联。
在调整潜在混杂因素后，孕晚期铊暴露每增加一个单位，MDI领域得分降低6.55分（95%CI：-12.88至-0.22），PDI领域得分降低7.13分（95%CI：-13.51至-0.74）。按儿童性别进行分层分析时，孕晚期铊浓度与PDI的关联在男孩中（β：-9.57；95%CI：-17.51至-1.64）比在女孩中（β：-0.87；95%CI：-14.51至12.76）更显著。
这项出生队列研究表明，孕晚期而非其他时期的产前铊暴露对幼儿智力和心理运动发育有不利影响。
