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Dental associations with blood mercury in pregnant women
Author(s) -
Golding Jean,
Steer Colin D.,
Gregory Steven,
Lowery Tony,
Hibbeln Joseph R.,
Taylor Caroline M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/cdoe.12208
Subject(s) - medicine , mercury (programming language) , dentistry , physiology , obstetrics , computer science , programming language
Abstract Objectives There is curiosity concerning the source of mercury that is absorbed into the mother's blood and which may affect the developing fetus. This study therefore sets out to determine the extent to which dental amalgam ( DA ) may contribute to total blood mercury ( TBH g) levels of pregnant women in the UK . Methods Whole blood samples and information on diet and socio‐demographic factors were collected from pregnant women ( n = 4484) enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children ( ALSPAC ). The whole blood samples were assayed for total mercury levels using inductively coupled plasma dynamic reaction cell mass spectrometry ( ICP ‐ DRC ‐ MS ), and the women were retrospectively asked about features of their dental care during the pregnancy. Linear regression was used to estimate the relative contributions of DA to TBH g levels (log‐transformed) based on R 2 values, compared to the results from dietary and socio‐demographic variables. Results The contribution to the variance of the mothers' TBH g levels by dental variables was 6.47%, a figure comparable to the 8.75% shown for seafood consumption in this population. Dietary and dental variables explained 20.16% of the variance, with socio‐demographic variables contributing only a further 3.40%. The number of amalgams in the mouth at the start of pregnancy accounted for most of the variance in dental variables. Conclusions Dental amalgam contributes a comparable amount of variance in TBH g to seafood consumption in this population. However, because the measures of DA exposure were imprecise, these findings are likely to be an underestimate. There is no evidence to date in the literature that fetal exposures to mercury from maternal DA s have adverse effects on the developing child, but long‐term studies are warranted.