İs There a Relationship Between Severity of Preeclampsia and Maternal Heavy Metal Levels?

The unfavorable effects of heavy metals on human health is well known. The main threats to human health from heavy metals are associated with exposure to lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. They may be toxic at the levels previously thought to have no adverse effect on human.In utero environmental exposures can have long term consequences to health and development.İn spite of what is known about the neurotoxicity from exposure to heavy metals, the health effects from co-exposure to these chemicals and the biologically effective doses are not known exactly.

Preeclampsia is associated with increased maternal and infant mortality and morbidity. The exact etiology is not clear. Several evidences indicate that various environmental factors and elements may play a role in pre-eclampsia.

significant increase in Pb, cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu) and magnesium (Mg) and decrease in zinc (Zn) in amniotic fluid are associated with preeclampsia. Pb as this metal has well known adverse effects on renal system and blood pressures Effects of Pb on reproductive system have been studied intensively, e.g. other pregnancy outcome and pregnancy hypertension.

However, the relationship between the severity of pre-eclampsia and heavy metal levels have not been investigated.

The purpose of this study, to investigate whether severity of preeclampsia is associated with altered levels of heavy metals (Cd, Hg, arsenic and Pb) in maternal blood, fetal blood, and maternal hair.