The higher the lead concentration in the umbilical cord blood of a pregnant mother and the blood of a born boy, the lower the score of the intelligence index and vocabulary test, is that Professor Kunihiko Nakai and Associate Professor Nozomi Tatsuta of the Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University It became clear in the investigation of.Although the blood concentration of lead in Japanese is lower than that in Europe and the United States, it was the first study to find out that it had an effect, and it was published in the electronic version of the international academic journal "Environ Mental Research".
According to Tohoku University, Professor Nakai et al. Measured lead levels from cord blood collected at birth from pregnant mothers and blood from children raised at the age of 2002 in a birth cohort survey that has been underway since 12, as well as at the age of 12. We investigated the correlation between the children's intelligence index and vocabulary test scores.
As a result, it was found that the lead concentration in the blood of children was 1 micrograms in 0.7 deciliter and the lead concentration in umbilical cord blood was 1 micrograms in 0.8 deciliter, which are lower than those in overseas cases.Although there was no clear tendency for girls to correlate with IQ, it was revealed that the higher the lead concentration in boys, the lower the IQ and the lower the vocabulary test score.
However, it was also found that there are individual differences in susceptibility to influence, and that it depends on heredity and the environment in which it grows.Professor Nakai and his colleagues will explore the sources of lead exposure in the home and proceed with research on reduction and exposure avoidance methods.
Lead has been shown to affect children's intelligence at low levels, and the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention has high blood lead levels of 6 micrograms or more per deciliter for children under 1 years of age. Research reports have shown that even lower concentrations have an effect.
Paper information:[ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH] Prenatal and postnatal lead exposures and intellectual development among 12-year-old Japanese children
