Association of newborn blood lead concentration with neurodevelopment outcome in early infancy

In utero exposure to toxic metal substances can cause severe neurodevelopmental deficits in developing fetus and infant.

Methods
We evaluated the association of newborn umbilical cord blood lead concentration with early neurodevelopmental performance (cognitive, receptive language, expressive language, fine motor, gross motor and social-emotional development). The Bayley Scale of Infants Developments-III (BSID-III) was used to perform neurodevelopment outcomes at an average age of 6.5 months. In this prospective study, total of 167 mother-child pairs were enrolled from Western Rajasthan, India. Association between risk factors of lead contamination and newborn umbilical cord blood lead levels was observed. Multivariate regression was performed to see the association of cord blood lead level with infant neurodevelopment outcome.

Results
The obtained newborn umbilical cord blood lead concentration 5.0–10.5 μg/dL was negatively associated with the sub-scale score of gross motor development (β-coefficient with 95 % CI; −0.29 (−5.0–0.11), p = 0.04). However, no associations were found with the score of cognitive, language, gross motor, and social-emotional development. The umbilical cord blood lead concentration <5.0 μg/dL was also not associated with the BSID-III scores. The mother's regular intake of calcium supplements during the antenatal period was significantly associated with a lower umbilical cord blood lead level (p-value 0.031). Conclusion The data suggest that newborn umbilical cord blood lead concentration 0.5–10.5 μg/dL has a negative association with early gross motor development during infancy.