“Exposure of Pregnant Women to Metals and Metalloids” Publication of Volume 2 of the Perinatal Component of the Biomonitoring Program

cp-elfe-191217.pdf

Published on 19 December 2017

Are pregnant women exposed to metals? What are the main sources of exposure? Santé publique France has published Volumes 2 and 3 of the perinatal component of the national biomonitoring program on metal exposure and related recommendations. These previously unpublished data provide the first-ever national-level analysis of exposure to metals and metalloids among more than 4,000 pregnant women. These results complement those in Volume 1 concerning organic pollutants. Together, these results provide, for the first time, reliable and relevant national indicators of chemical exposure in a population particularly vulnerable to the potential effects of pollutants.

The First National Biomonitoring Study of Pregnant Women

Biomonitoring is essential today in environmental health. It allows us to measure exposures before health effects occur, helps assess the effectiveness of public policies, and monitors changes in exposure to the substances around us. Understanding the exposure levels of pregnant women and the pathways of exposure are major public health issues, which is why the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the Environment have entrusted Santé publique France with implementing the perinatal component of the national biomonitoring program. This component is based on a representative subsample of 4,145 pregnant women who gave birth in 2011 in mainland France (excluding Corsica) and were included in the Elfe cohort, led by INED and Inserm.

The results of the perinatal component of the national biomonitoring program are published in three volumes.

Volume 1 - Results regarding organic pollutants: bisphenol A, phthalates, pesticides, and persistent organic pollutants (dioxins, furans, PCBs, flame retardants, and perfluorinated compounds). Published in December 2016.
Volume 2 - Results regarding metals and metalloids.
Volume 3 - General conclusions of the study and outlook.

Metals present in the environment found in all pregnant women

Thirteen metals and metalloids were measured: aluminum, antimony, total arsenic, cadmium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, tin, mercury, nickel, lead, uranium, and vanadium.

With the exception of uranium, all of the pollutants measured were present in the bodies of the pregnant women studied:

Lead and mercury were found at lower levels than those measured in the past in France
Compared to other countries, pregnant women in France have higher levels of mercury and arsenic in their bodies. This could be partly explained by differences in behavior (consumption of seafood)
The levels of exposure observed for other metals are of the same order of magnitude as those observed in previous studies.
The most common sources of exposure are: tobacco and diet

Essential indicators in environmental health

Exposure to these pollutants during pregnancy could have repercussions on the health of the child and the mother. This is why these data are important for providing indicators that help public authorities limit women’s exposure to these substances, measure the effectiveness of implemented measures over time, and fully understand the pathways of exposure. These data enable the establishment of reference values useful for characterizing exposures in cases of local pollution or overexposure events. The overall results of the perinatal biomonitoring component show that action is possible and that such action is all the more effective when health thresholds are in place.