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Cadmium Levels in Maternal and Cord Blood and Anthropometric Parameters of Newborns in Nnewi,South‐Eastern Nigeria

The study investigated the cadmium levels in maternal and cord blood and also tried to find out if there was any correlation between cadmium level and anthropometric parameters in the newborns A total of 119 pregnant women from the third trimester to delivery were recruited from three different hospitals in Nnewi , South Eastern Nigeria. Maternal and umbilical cord blood samples (4ml) were collected at delivery and put into EDTA sample containers and were stored at ‐80C before transporting them to the University of Michigan ,Michigan ,USA for analysis of heavy metals. Cadmium were analyzed in a Class 100 facility using an Agilent 7500c series inductively coupled plasma/mass spectrometer (ICP‐MS) Cadmium was detected in all the maternal and cord blood samples. The mean cadmium level in cord blood was 1.72 x 10‐3 ppm and that of the maternal blood was1.73 x 10‐3 ppm.The prevalence of abnormal cadmium level in mothers' blood is 73.1% and that of the cord blood was 68.9%.The anthropometric measurements showed that mothers whose blood had abnormal cadmium level delivered newborns with significantly lower (P<0.05) body weight and length compared to those with normal cadmium level. This study reveals the presence of cadmium in both maternal and cord blood more than the permissible cadmium level and this calls for a great concern because of its inherent health implications.