Metal Concentrations in Newcomer Women and Environmental Exposures: A Scoping Review.

Shirley Chen,Clare Wiseman,Dolon Chakravartty,Donald Cole

doi:10.3390/ijerph14030277

Abstract

Newcomer women from developing countries are recognized to be at risk for elevated exposures to environmental contaminants and associated negative health effects. As such, data on exposure sources and contaminant body burden concentrations is critical in the development of effective public health policies and interventions in support of newcomer health. We conducted a scoping review to gather evidence on important toxic metals of health concern, lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd), and their concentrations and potential exposure sources among newcomer women. An initial 420 articles were identified through the databases MEDLINE, EMBASE and Scopus, many reporting by ethnicity rather than newcomer/immigrant status. Several articles reported metal concentrations for other biomarkers but did not include blood, nor stratify results. From the remainder, we selected a total of 10 articles for full textual review, which reported blood Pb, Hg or Cd levels for newcomer women and/or stratified blood metal results according to foreign birth or country of origin. Three of the articles reported higher Pb, Hg and Cd concentrations in newcomer women compared to their native-borne counterparts. Exposures identified as contributing to elevated Pb, Hg and Cd blood concentrations included: pica behaviour, the use of lead-glazed cookware or eye cosmetics, and fish/shellfish consumption. The review revealed a limited availability of data on metal body burden concentrations, exposure sources and routes among newcomer women specifically. More research is needed to better understand the extent to which newcomer women are disproportionately at risk of elevated metal exposures due to either country of origin or current exposures and to inform relevant, multi-national risk management strategies.

Highlights

Lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd) are known toxic metals that pose a particular hazard to women and their children
Articles were only considered if they: (1) were published in peer-reviewed journals; (2) presented primary research conducted on women; and (3) reported body burdens for Pb, Hg and/or Cd for newcomer populations or stratified metal concentrations according to foreign birth
The titles, abstracts and keywords of the remaining 300 articles were scanned by three reviewers for their relevance

Summary

Introduction

Lead (Pb), mercury (Hg) and cadmium (Cd) are known toxic metals that pose a particular hazard to women and their children. Pb and Hg are all reproductive and developmental toxicants, at low, environmentally-relevant exposure levels [2]. Maternal blood Pb concentrations, for instance, are associated with negative birth outcomes such as intellectual impairment, low birth weight, pre-term delivery and spontaneous abortion [3,4,5,6,7]. Cd has been identified as a potential neurodevelopmental toxicant at low exposure concentrations [8]. Cadmium exposures have been associated with kidney damage and an elevated risk of osteoporosis and bone fractures in women [1]

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Discussion

Conclusion