A preliminary study on the use of meconium for the assessment of prenatal exposure to heavy metals in Japan.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the relevance of environmental pollution to children's health. We investigated whether the concentrations of heavy metals in meconium can be used for the assessmet of prenatal exposure in Japan. Our study subjects were newborns whose mothers were hospitalized for childbirth at Tokai University Hospital between November 2010 and March 2011. The target compounds of this study were lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As). Meconium samples collected from 102 newborns were analyzed using ICPMS. The median concentrations of Pb and As in the meconium were 0.71 ppb and 0.03 ppb, respectively. The median concentration of Cd was below the limit of quantification. These concentration values are much lower than those used in previous studies. Further study is needed to compare the concentrations of heavy metals in biological samples and to investigate the availability of meconium for the assessment of exposure to heavy metals during pregnancy.