Concentration Distributions of Trace Elements and Heavy Metals in Umbilical Cord Blood in Taiwan
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Liu, Chun-Hung
Abstract
Trace metals are widely distributed in our environment (air, water and soil). People usually expose to trace metals by daily activities.Pregnant women and their neonates are particularly susceptible to them. Biomonitoring of metal elements in blood has become an important tool to characterize the distributions of trace metals in human body.The aim of this study was set to understand the distributions of trace metals in umbilical cord blood in Taiwan and establish the corresponding norm values for further environmental pollution monitoring, and to explore the potential determinants for the metal concentrations in umbilical cord blood.n total, 1526 pairs of delivering women and their neonates were recruited from April 2004 to July 2005. All participants were informed about the content of this research and the statements of consents have been signed before they participated in the study. Questionnaire information was collected from delivering women after delivery.n total, 1407 Cord blood samples were collected at delivery by nurses and stored in EDTA tubes under -80℃ frozen condition until laboratory analysis with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for 18 trace elements, including As, Be, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Ga, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Pt, Sb, Se, Tl, Th, Zn, U.he highest concentration of metal in cord blood was found for zinc with mean of 2452 ± 1018 μg/L, followed by copper and selenium with means of 534 ± 105 μg/L and 204 ± 47 μg/L, respectively, and by manganese, mercury, lead with means of 48.9 ± 15.7、10.8 ± 6.5、13.9 ± 6.0 μg/L, respectively.ver the past two decades, cord blood lead level in Taiwan declined from 74.8 μg/L in 1987 to 14.5 μg/L in 2005. The mercury level in umbilical cord blood also decreased from 28.8 μg/L in 1988 to 11.6 μg/L in 2005.esults of ANOVA indicated there was significant difference among geographical zones for all study metal levels in cord blood expect for Ni (p<0.0001). The concentration of Hg in umbilical cord blood was positively associated with maternal education and family income levels, while that of Pb was negatively (p<0.05). Meanwhile, there was significant difference in cord blood Hg level among age groups of delivering women.n conclusion, the norms of metal levels in cord blood in Taiwan were established, and could be used as references in further. Cord blood lead and mercury levels in Taiwan presented a decreasing trend in th past years. The current cord blood lead and mercury levels is about 10 μg/L. It’s still of concern whether such low level exposure to lead and mercury would lead to potential adverse health effects of neonates.n the future, a longitudinal monitoring for cord blood metals shall be established to monitor the longitudinal and spatial trend of blood metal level to characterize the human exposure to environmental metal pollutants.
Subjects
Cord blood
metal
trace element
norm
ICP-MS
lead
mercury
Type
thesis
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