The Presence of Lead in Blood of Pregnant Women at the First Trimester in Al Najaf City−Iraq

Abstract

A certain concern is related to the presence of lead in the bloodstream of pregnant women due to its passage to the developing fetus. This study aimed to assess lead blood levels in first trimester pregnant women in Al-Najaf city. A cross-sectional study design was applied including 48 pregnant women at the first trimester who were met the inclusion criteria. Samples of blood were collected under aseptic technique and have been tested in the laboratory of the pharmacy college of Al-Kufa. Findings of the study revealed that high proportion of women aged 15–25 years while the lower proportion aged (≤ 36 years). The mean blood lead level was <1 μg/dl in 36 women (75%), 1 μg/dl in 4 (8.33%) and ≥ 2 μg/dl in the remaining 8 (16.67%) women, (P.value =0.001). However, the blood lead levels of the studied group ranged (0.10–114.95) μg/dl with highly statistically significant difference between minimum and the maximum values, (P.value<0.001). The mean prenatal blood lead level of housewives and worker women was (0.255 and 7.136 μg/dl) respectively with highly statistically significant difference (P.value=0.001). A strong direct correlation had been found between the previous abortion and prenatal lead blood levels (r = 0.83). In conclusion a significant proportion of women at first trimester had high levels of blood lead and it was associated with previous abortions. hence we recommended to conduct blood lead testing on all pregnant women and establish a program for the treatment.