Levels of prenatal mercury exposure and their relationships to neonatal anthropometry in Wujiang City, China

- We examined the levels of prenatal Hg exposure in China's fish-eating population.
- Four types of biological samples were analyzed for Hg exposure assay.
- The levels of prenatal exposure to Hg were relatively low in Wujiang City, China.
- Low-level Hg exposure was not shown to be correlated with neonatal anthropometry.
- Our findings may have implications concerning the recommended dose for Hg.

We determined the levels of prenatal Hg exposure in Wujiang City, located in the southeast of Taihu Lake in China's Jiangsu Province, and analyze the relationship between prenatal exposure to Hg and neonatal anthropometry, including birth weight, body length, and head circumference. From June 2009 to July 2010, a total of 213 mother-infant pairs were enrolled. The geometric means of Hg levels in maternal hair, fetal hair, placentas, and cord blood were 496.76 μg/kg, 233.94 μg/kg, 3.58 μg/kg, and 1.54 μg/L, respectively. The Hg levels detected in our study were significantly lower than those reported by previous studies. In addition, no significant correlations were found between Hg levels in maternal hair, fetal hair, placenta, or cord blood and neonatal anthropometrics. Together, our findings may be important for understanding the effects of prenatal exposure to Hg on newborns' development and have implications concerning the recommended dose for Hg.