(Futurity.org) – Pregnant women who are exposed to lead may have teen daughters with a greater risk of developing high blood pressure, according to a new study. The same is not true for sons.
“This study suggests that a common chemical pollutant—lead—can build up in mom’s bones and then increase their daughter’s risk of developing hypertension, the most important risk factor for stroke and heart disease,” says Howard Hu, professor of public health at the University of Michigan.
“It further increases the importance of reducing such exposures. It also significantly increases the pressure to study how such risks get transferred so we can develop better methods of treatment, including better drugs.”
Using data from the Early Life Exposures in Mexico to Environmental Toxicants project, researchers examined the relationship between prenatal lead exposure and blood pressure in 457 children ages 7-15. Researchers measured the lead accumulations in both bone and in the umbilical cords of mothers in the study.
Among female offspring, a 13 ug/g increase in maternal tibia lead was associated with an increase of 2.11 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure, and an increase of 1.60 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure.
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