Heavy metals content in newborns' meconium of smoking mothers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure levels of toxic metals (lead, cadmium, nickel, chromium) in newborns' meconium samples of smoking mothers of the Arkhangelsk region. Heavy metal content was determined in the meconium with use of the inductive coupled plasma emission spectrometry and atomic absorption spectroscopy with the graphite furnace atomization technique. The prospective cohort study was conducted among 30 newborns of smoking women and 30 children of nonsmoking mothers. The levels of nickel and chromium in the newborns' meconium of the smoking women were higher than in the newborns' meconium of the nonsmoking mothers (0.36 ppm and 0.85 ppm, respectively). The mean concentrations of lead and cadmium in meconium in both children's groups were below the limit of quantification (0.25 ppm and 0.05 ppm, respectively). There was a significant correlation between the heavy metals content in the newborns' meconium and quantity of daily cigarettes of the smoking mothers. Body weight at birth was not correlated with the heavy metals content in the children's meconium, but there has been found impact of cadmium and nickel on the maximum decrease of the body weight in the early neonatal period.