Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health logoLink to Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health
. 1986 Mar;40(1):18–25. doi: 10.1136/jech.40.1.18

The Port Pirie cohort study: maternal blood lead and pregnancy outcome.

A J McMichael, G V Vimpani, E F Robertson, P A Baghurst, P D Clark
PMCID: PMC1052483  PMID: 3711766

Abstract

During a three-year period, 831 pregnant women in and around Port Pirie, South Australia--a lead smelter community with longstanding lead pollution--were enrolled in a cohort study to examine prospectively the relation between body lead burden and pregnancy outcome. Three-quarters of the enrolled women were residents of the Port Pirie municipality; the other women lived in adjacent towns and countryside. At 14-20 weeks' gestation, the Port Pirie resident women had a mean blood lead concentration of 10.6 micrograms/dl, while the mean in the other (non-Port Pirie) women was 7.6 micrograms/dl. Similar differences were observed in maternal blood samples taken at 30-36 weeks, at delivery, and from the umbilical cord. These blood lead measures, in conjunction with information collected on other risk factors, were then examined in relation to pregnancy outcome. Among 749 pregnancies followed to completion, pre-term delivery was statistically significantly associated, in a dose-response manner, with maternal blood lead concentration at delivery. Mothers of late fetal deaths (stillbirths) had blood lead concentrations at 14-20 weeks' gestation similar to those of all the other women but had lower concentrations at delivery than the other women. Outcomes of pregnancy for which no association with blood lead was detected were spontaneous abortion, low birthweight (for births at term), intrauterine growth retardation, premature rupture of the membranes, and congenital anomalies.

Full text

PDF
18

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Angell N. F., Lavery J. P. The relationship of blood lead levels to obstetric outcome. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1982 Jan 1;142(1):40–46. doi: 10.1016/s0002-9378(16)32282-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bryce-Smith D., Deshpande R. R., Hughes J., Waldron H. A. Lead and cadmium levels in stillbirths. Lancet. 1977 May 28;1(8022):1159–1159. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)92423-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dobbing J., Sands J. Quantitative growth and development of human brain. Arch Dis Child. 1973 Oct;48(10):757–767. doi: 10.1136/adc.48.10.757. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dubowitz L. M., Dubowitz V., Goldberg C. Clinical assessment of gestational age in the newborn infant. J Pediatr. 1970 Jul;77(1):1–10. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(70)80038-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fahim M. S., Fahim Z., Hall D. G. Effects of subtoxic lead levels on pregnant women in the state of Missouri. Res Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol. 1976 Feb;13(2):309–331. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gibson G. T., Baghurst P. A., Colley D. P. Maternal alcohol, tobacco and cannabis consumption and the outcome of pregnancy. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 1983 Feb;23(1):15–19. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-828x.1983.tb00151.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Gibson G. T., Colley D. P., Baghurst P. A. Maternal exposure to environmental chemicals and the aetiology of teratogenesis. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol. 1983 Aug;23(3):170–175. doi: 10.1111/j.1479-828x.1983.tb00569.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. McMichael A. J., Dreosti I. E., Gibson G. T., Hartshorne J. M., Buckley R. A., Colley D. P. A prospective study of serial maternal serum zinc levels and pregnancy outcome. Early Hum Dev. 1982 Oct;7(1):59–69. doi: 10.1016/0378-3782(82)90008-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Needleman H. L., Rabinowitz M., Leviton A., Linn S., Schoenbaum S. The relationship between prenatal exposure to lead and congenital anomalies. JAMA. 1984 Jun 8;251(22):2956–2959. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Schroeder H. A., Tipton I. H. The human body burden of lead. Arch Environ Health. 1968 Dec;17(6):965–978. doi: 10.1080/00039896.1968.10665354. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Stowe H. D., Goyer R. A. Reproductive ability and progeny of F 1 lead-toxic rats. Fertil Steril. 1971 Nov;22(11):755–760. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Thomson A. M., Billewicz W. Z., Hytten F. E. The assessment of fetal growth. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Commonw. 1968 Sep;75(9):903–916. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1968.tb01615.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Vistica D. T., Ahrens F. A., Ellison W. R. The effects of lead upon collagen synthesis and proline hydroxylation in the Swiss mouse 3T6 fibroblast. Arch Biochem Biophys. 1977 Feb;179(1):15–23. doi: 10.1016/0003-9861(77)90081-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. White J. M., Selhi H. S. Lead and the red cell. Br J Haematol. 1975 Jun;30(2):133–138. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2141.1975.tb00526.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES