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Association between prenatal lead exposure and blood pressure in children
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Association between prenatal lead exposure and blood pressure in children

Aimin Zhang, Howard Hu, Brisa N Sánchez, Adrienne S Ettinger, Sung Kyun Park, David Cantonwine, Lourdes Schnaas, Robert O Wright, Hector Lamadrid-Figueroa and Martha Maria Tellez-Rojo
Environmental health perspectives, v 120(3), pp 445-450
Mar 2012
PMID: 21947582
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https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1103736View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)access removed by US government, 1 Dec 2025 Restricted

Abstract

Blood Pressure Prospective Studies Bone and Bones - chemistry Follow-Up Studies Mexico - epidemiology Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - epidemiology Humans Umbilical Cord - chemistry Male Hypertension - chemically induced Adolescent Sex Factors Female Environmental Pollutants - toxicity Hypertension - epidemiology Child Lead - toxicity Longitudinal Studies Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects - chemically induced Cohort Studies Pregnancy
Lead exposure in adults is associated with hypertension. Altered prenatal nutrition is associated with subsequent risks of adult hypertension, but little is known about whether prenatal exposure to toxicants, such as lead, may also confer such risks. We investigated the relationship of prenatal lead exposure and blood pressure (BP) in 7- to 15-year-old boys and girls. We evaluated 457 mother-child pairs, originally recruited for an environmental birth cohort study between 1994 and 2003 in Mexico City, at a follow-up visit in 2008-2010. Prenatal lead exposure was assessed by measurement of maternal tibia and patella lead using in vivo K-shell X-ray fluorescence and cord blood lead using atomic absorption spectrometry. BP was measured by mercury sphygmomanometer with appropriate-size cuffs. Adjusting for relevant covariates, maternal tibia lead was significantly associated with increases in systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) in girls but not in boys (p-interaction with sex = 0.025 and 0.007 for SBP and DBP, respectively). Among girls, an interquartile range increase in tibia lead (13 μg/g) was associated with 2.11-mmHg [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.69, 3.52] and 1.60-mmHg (95% CI: 0.28, 2.91) increases in SBP and DBP, respectively. Neither patella nor cord lead was associated with child BP. Maternal tibia lead, which reflects cumulative environmental lead exposure and a source of exposure to the fetus, is a predisposing factor to higher BP in girls but not boys. Sex-specific adaptive responses to lead toxicity during early-life development may explain these differences.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Environmental Sciences
Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
Toxicology
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