Prenatal exposure to multiple metallic and metalloid trace elements and the risk of bacterial sepsis in extremely low gestational age newborns: A prospective cohort study

Abstract

This is an open-Background: Prenatal exposures to metallic and metalloid trace elements have been linked to altered immune function in animal studies, but few epidemiologic studies have investigated immunological effects in humans. We evaluated the risk of bacterial sepsis (an extreme immune response to bacterial infection) in relation to prenatal metal/metalloid exposures, individually and jointly, within a US-based cohort of infants born extremely preterm.