A prospective cohort study of the association between drinking water arsenic exposure and self-reported maternal health symptoms during pregnancy in Bangladesh

Details

• Personal Author:
  Christiani, David C. ; Diao N ; Dobson CB ; Golam M ; Kile ML ; Mazumdar M ; Quamruzzaman Q ; Rahman M ; Rodrigues EG
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Arsenic, a common groundwater pollutant, is associated with adverse reproductive health but few studies have examined its effect on maternal health. METHODS: A prospective cohort was recruited in Bangladesh from 2008-2011 (N=1,458). At enrollment (<16 weeks gestational age [WGA]), arsenic was measured in personal drinking water using inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Questionnaires collected health data at enrollment, at 28 WGA, and within one month of delivery. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for self-reported health symptoms were estimated for each arsenic quartile using logistic regression. RESULTS: Overall, the mean concentration of arsenic was 38 µg/L (Standard deviation, 92.7 µg/L). A total of 795 women reported one or more of the following symptoms during pregnancy (cold/flu/infection, nausea/vomiting, abdominal cramping, headache, vaginal bleeding, or swollen ankles). Compared to participants exposed to the lowest quartile of arsenic (<0.9 µg/L), the aOR for reporting any symptom during pregnancy was 0.62 (95% CI=0.44-0.88) in the second quartile, 1.83 (95% CI=1.25-2.69) in the third quartile, and 2.11 (95% CI=1.42-3.13) in the fourth quartile where the mean arsenic concentration in each quartile was 1.5 µg/L, 12.0 µg/L and 144.7 µg/L, respectively. Upon examining individual symptoms, only nausea/vomiting and abdominal cramping showed consistent associations with arsenic exposure. The odds of self-reported nausea/vomiting was 0.98 (95% CI: 0.68, 1.41), 1.52 (95% CI: 1.05, 2.18), and 1.81 (95% CI: 1.26, 2.60) in the second, third and fourth quartile of arsenic relative to the lowest quartile after adjusting for age, body mass index, second-hand tobacco smoke exposure, educational status, parity, anemia, ferritin, medication usage, type of sanitation at home, and household income. A positive trend was also observed for abdominal cramping (P for trend <0.0001). A marginal negative association was observed between arsenic quartiles and odds of self-reported cold/flu/infection (P for trend=0.08). No association was observed between arsenic and self-reported headache (P for trend=0.19). CONCLUSION: Moderate exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water early in pregnancy was associated with increased odds of experiencing nausea/vomiting and abdominal cramping. Preventing exposure to arsenic contaminated drinking water during pregnancy could improve maternal health. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Arsenic Inorganic Chemicals Occupational Health Pregnancy Safety Surveys And Questionnaires Urogenital System Women
• Keywords:
  Arsenic-compounds Author Keywords: Arsenic Cramping Environmental Health Exposure-levels Hazards Humans Maternal Health Nausea Pollutants Prenatal-exposure Questionnaires Reproductive Health Vomiting

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• ISSN:
  1476-069X
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; Oregon ; OSHA Region 1 ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  29
• Volume:
  13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20045177
• Citation:
  Environ Health 2014 Apr; 13:29
• Contact Point Address:
  Molly L Kile, Department of Public Health, College of Public Health and Human Sciences, Oregon State University, 15 Milam, Corvallis, OR 97331
• Email:
  Molly.Kile@oregonstate.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Arsenic (CAS RN 7440-38-2)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Performing Organization:
  Harvard School of Public Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:90d306ff6d20291f007ebafd585a709f1acfce8cf31626c93d37062586997679519ffc41a2c02b723fc7ea6928dfc62af738d6f1338adb213d711def25f41caf
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/200692/cdc_200692_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 221.84 KB ]