Urinary Cadmium in Relation to Neonatal Anthropometric Indices during Pregnancy

Aim: 
This study aims to determine the concentrations of urinary Cadmium (Cd) in a group of pregnant women and its association with neonatal anthropometric Indices.
Materials and Methods: 
This cross-sectional study was conducted, involving 136 pregnant women in the first trimester, as a sub-study of the PERSIAN Birth Cohort in Isfahan in 2020. Cadmium exposure was assessed by urinary concentrations using atomic absorption spectrometry. The socioeconomic information and neonatal anthropometric indices were documented. Data were analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: 
The results of the study revealed the mean (standard deviation) concentration of urinary Cd (U-Cd) was 0.16 (0.11) μg/L. The U-Cd by Creatinine ranged from 0.06 to 1.24 with a median (interquartile range) of 0.18 (0.12–0.26) (μg/g creatinine). The mean age of participants was 30.26 (4.92) years. Although the association between birth height and birth head circumference was inverse, it was not significant after using the adjusted model for confounder variables, including maternal anthropometric measurements, maternal body mass index, passive smoking status, and socioeconomic demographic.
Conclusion: 
The current findings show that maternal Cd exposure was reversely associated with physical growth at birth. Hence, reduction of maternal Cd exposure is essential to improve infant health. Further research is required to investigate the effect of maternal exposure to Cd on adverse health outcomes in long-term periods considering other cofounders and metal pollutants.