Abstract
This exploratory study was aimed to investigate the link between toxic metal content in women’s urine and their morbidity 2 years before and 6 years after the test. Concentrations of 25 metals in urine were analyzed for 111 pregnant women collected prior to delivery. All women were of Arab-Bedouin origin. Information on primary care and hospital visits during the study period was obtained. In a Poisson regression model, a health outcome was regressed over metal exposure and other factors. A Weighted Quantile Sum Regression (WQS) approach was used to indicate metals dominating in their possible impact on women's morbidity. Obesity was the most frequently diagnosed condition in this population (27.9%). Diagnoses in a neurological category accounted for 36.0%, asthma or respiratory—25.2%, psychiatric—12.6%, cardiovascular—14.4% and cancer or benign growth—for 13.5%. Based on WQS analysis, cancer and benign growth were mostly attributed to the increased levels of cadmium, cardiovascular outcomes were linked with lead, and obesity was found associated with elevated levels of nickel. Hematological, neurological and respiratory outcomes were attributed to multiple non-essential metals. The health and exposure profile of women in the study warrants a periodic biomonitoring in attempt to identify and reduce exposure to potentially dangerous elements.
Highlights
This exploratory study was aimed to investigate the link between toxic metal content in women’s urine and their morbidity 2 years before and 6 years after the test
For this reason the range of morbidities related to environment has been coined as "civilization" diseases, i.e. affecting the world in its e ntirety[2,3] The most frequent diseases related to environment are malignancies, cardiovascular morbidity, certain brain disorders, fetal complications and pulmonary, endocrine, and immune disorders
The rest of the diagnoses were grouped into neurological category accounting for 36.0%, asthma or respiratory—25.2%, psychiatric—12.6%, cardiovascular—14.4% and cancer or benign growth—for 13.5% (Table 1)
Summary
This exploratory study was aimed to investigate the link between toxic metal content in women’s urine and their morbidity 2 years before and 6 years after the test. The health and exposure profile of women in the study warrants a periodic biomonitoring in attempt to identify and reduce exposure to potentially dangerous elements. It has been established by scientific communities that environmental pollution poses a threat to public health, causing about seven million deaths worldwide every year, as per WHO e stimates[1]. Metals detected in urine represent classical biomarkers of environmental exposure, investigations of metabolomic profiles of population are rare[11], and their potential impact is largely unknown. Mothers exposed to arsenic (As) were more likely to develop gestational diabetes[12]
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