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Biomarkers of seafood intake during pregnancy: pollutants versus fatty acids and micronutrients
Department of Life Sciences, Food and Nutrition Science, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Unit of Metals and Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Life Sciences, Food and Nutrition Science, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Unit of Metals and Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Unit of Metals and Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
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2023 (English)In: Environmental Research, ISSN 0013-9351, E-ISSN 1096-0953, Vol. 225, article id 115576Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Intake of fish and seafood during pregnancy may have certain beneficial effects on fetal development, but measurement of intake using questionnaires is unreliable. Here, we assessed several candidate biomarkers of seafood intake, including long-chain omega 3 fatty acids (n-3 LCPUFA), selenium, iodine, methylmercury, and different arsenic compounds, in 549 pregnant women (gestational week 29) in the prospective birth cohort NICE (Nutritional impact on Immunological maturation during Childhood in relation to the Environment). Proportions of the fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in erythrocytes were measured using gas chromatography with flame ionization detector. Selenium was measured in blood plasma and erythrocytes, mercury and arsenic in erythrocytes, and iodine and several arsenic compounds in urine, using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, arsenic compounds after first being separated by ion exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Each biomarker was related to intake of total seafood and to intake of fatty and lean fish, and shellfish in third trimester, estimated from a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire filled out in gestational week 34. The pregnant women reported a median total seafood intake of 184 g/week (5th-95th percentiles: 34–465 g/week). This intake correlated most strongly with erythrocyte mercury concentrations (rho = 0.49, p < 0.001), consisting essentially of methylmercury, followed by total arsenic in erythrocytes (rho = 0.34, p < 0.001), and arsenobetaine in urine (rho = 0.33, p < 0.001), the main form of urinary arsenic. These biomarkers correlated well with intake of both fatty fish, lean fish, and shellfish. Erythrocyte DHA and plasma selenium correlated, although weakly, mainly with fatty fish (rho = 0.25 and 0.22, respectively, both p < 0.001). In conclusion, elevated concentrations of erythrocyte mercury and urinary arsenobetaine can be useful indicators of seafood intake, more so than the n-3 LCPUFAs. However, the relative importance of the biomarkers may differ depending on the type and amount of seafood consumed.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Academic Press, 2023. Vol. 225, article id 115576
Keywords [en]
Arsenic, Fatty acids, Fish, Mercury, Pregnancy, Seafood biomarkers
National Category
Nutrition and Dietetics Occupational Health and Environmental Health
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-205933DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.115576ISI: 000957489200001PubMedID: 36878269Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85150032596OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-205933DiVA, id: diva2:1745986
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2019-01317Swedish Research Council, 2022-00753Swedish Research Council Formas, 2018-02275Swedish Research Council Formas, 2019-01007Swedish Research Council Formas, 2021-01123Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2018-00485Karolinska Institute, 2022-01874Available from: 2023-03-27 Created: 2023-03-27 Last updated: 2025-02-11Bibliographically approved

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Sandin, Anna

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