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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1450570
This article is part of the Research Topic The Impact of Exposure to Environmental Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals and Particles via Human Breast Milk: A Focus on Health Effects and Underlying Mechanisms View all 7 articles

Lead contamination in human milk affects infants' language trajectory: Results from a prospective cohort study

Provisionally accepted
Nathalia F. Naspolini Nathalia F. Naspolini 1*Pedro A. Vanzele Pedro A. Vanzele 2Pedro Tótolo Pedro Tótolo 3Paulo A. Schüroff Paulo A. Schüroff 1Daniel Fatori Daniel Fatori 4,5Santos A. Vicentini Neto Santos A. Vicentini Neto 6Cristiane Barata-Silva Cristiane Barata-Silva 6Lisia M. dos Santos Lisia M. dos Santos 6Andre Fujita Andre Fujita 3,7Maria Rita Passos-Bueno Maria Rita Passos-Bueno 8Patricia C. Beltrão-Braga Patricia C. Beltrão-Braga 10,9Alline C. Campos Alline C. Campos 11André C. Carvalho André C. Carvalho 12Guilherme V. Polanczyk Guilherme V. Polanczyk 4Josino C. Moreira Josino C. Moreira 6Carla R. Taddei Carla R. Taddei 9
  • 1 Schoool of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2 Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 3 Institute of Mathematics and Statistics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • 4 Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 5 Laboratório de Psicopatologia e Terapêutica Psiquiátrica LIM-23, Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 6 Department of Chemistry, National Institute for Quality Control in Health (INCQS), Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (INCQS/Fiocruz), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • 7 Division of Network AI Statistics, Medical Institute of Bioregulation, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 8 Department of Genetics and Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 9 Department of Microbiology, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 10 Institut Pasteur de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • 11 Department of Pharmacology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
  • 12 Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Infants growing up in low-and middle-income countries are at increased risk of suffering adverse childhood experiences, including exposure to environmental pollution and lack of cognitive stimulation. In this study, we aimed to examine the levels of metals in the human milk of women living in Sao Paulo City, Brazil, and determine the effects on infants' neurodevelopment. For such, a total of 185 human milk samples were analyzed for arsenic (As), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and cadmium (Cd) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We applied the Bayley scales of infant and toddler development Third Edition (Bayley-III) to assess developmental milestones. In our analysis, we found a mean (standard deviation) concentration of As in human milk equal to 2.76 (4.09) μg L -1 , followed by Pb 2.09 (5.36) and Hg 1.96 (6.68). Cd was not detected. We observed that infants exposed to Pb presented language trajectories lower than non-exposed infants (β = -0.413; 95 % CI -0.653, -0.173) after adjustment for infant age, maternal education, socioeconomic status, infant sex, and sample weights. Our results report As, Pb, and Hg contamination in human milk, and that infant exposure to Pb decreased infants' language development. These results evidence maternal-child environmental exposure and its detrimental impact on infants' health.

    Keywords: Environmental Exposure, human milk, Infant Development, lead exposure, language trajectory

    Received: 17 Jun 2024; Accepted: 01 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Naspolini, Vanzele, Tótolo, Schüroff, Fatori, Vicentini Neto, Barata-Silva, dos Santos, Fujita, Passos-Bueno, Beltrão-Braga, Campos, Carvalho, Polanczyk, Moreira and Taddei. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nathalia F. Naspolini, Schoool of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo, 03828-000, São Paulo, Brazil

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