Observational studyThe American journal of clinical nutrition2015
Prenatal exposure to methyl mercury from fish consumption and polyunsaturated fatty acids: associations with child development at 20 mo of age in an observational study in the Republic of Seychelles.
Observational study in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 126 citations in OpenAlex.
- Seafood During Pregnancy and Lactation and Child Neurocognitive Development: A Systematic Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Pooled it
- Fish and Fish-Based Products for Nutrition and Health in the First 1000 Days: A Systematic Review of the Evidence from Low and Middle-Income Countries.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Pooled it
- Prenatal Mercury Exposure and Neurodevelopment up to the Age of 5 Years: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Fish intake during pregnancy and foetal neurodevelopment--a systematic review of the evidence.Nutrients · 2015Pooled it
- The influence of fish consumption on serum n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) concentrations in women of childbearing age: a randomised controlled trial (the iFish Study).European journal of nutrition · 2021Trial
- Short-Chain Fatty Acids Mitigate Perinatal Methylmercury-Induced Cognitive Impairment Via Modulation of the Gut Microbiota Composition.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Maternal Inflammatory Biomarkers at 28 Weeks of Pregnancy and Childhood Adiposity at Age 7 and 13 Years in the Seychelles Child Development Study.Maternal and child health journal · 2026Article
- Maternal environmental exposure and early-life health risks: The modulating role of nutritional status-A scoping review.iScience · 2026Review
- Associations between maternal fish intakes, maternal and cord PUFA and longitudinal measures of child weight at birth, 20 months and at 7 and 13 years of age.The British journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Global Comparison of Erythrocyte EPA and DHA Concentrations in Pregnant Women.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Associations of Prenatal Mercury Exposure and PUFA with Telomere Length and mtDNA Copy Number in 7-Year-Old Children in the Seychelles Child Development Nutrition Cohort 2.Environmental health perspectives · 2025Article
- A novel approach to assessing the joint effects of mercury and fish consumption on neurodevelopment in the New Bedford Cohort.American journal of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Associations between maternal fish intake and polyunsaturated fatty acid status with childhood asthma in a high fish-eating population.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2025Observational
- Association of maternal fish consumption and ω-3 supplement use during pregnancy with child autism-related outcomes: results from a cohort consortium analysis.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Article
- Prenatal air pollution and children's autism traits score: Examination of joint associations with maternal intake of vitamin D, methyl donors, and polyunsaturated fatty acids using mixture methods.Environmental epidemiology (Philadelphia, Pa.) · 2024Article
- Postnatal methylmercury exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 7 years of age in the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2.Neurotoxicology · 2023Article
- Article
- Relationship of mercury and selenium in ocean fish frequently consumed in the Seychelles: A comparison to levels in ocean fish consumed in the US.Neurotoxicology · 2023Article
- Net effects explains the benefits to children from maternal fish consumption despite methylmercury in fish.Neurotoxicology · 2023Article
- KEAP1 polymorphisms and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children with exposure to prenatal MeHg from the Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2.Neurotoxicology · 2023Article
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 1 institution in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFish is a rich source of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) but also contains the neurotoxicant methyl mercury (MeHg). PUFAs may modify the relation between prenatal MeHg exposure and child development either directly by enhancing neurodevelopment or indirectly through the inflammatory milieu.
objectiveThe objective was to investigate the associations of prenatal MeHg exposure and maternal PUFA status with child development at 20 mo of age.
designThe Seychelles Child Development Study Nutrition Cohort 2 is an observational study in the Republic of Seychelles, a high-fish-eating population. Mothers were enrolled during pregnancy and their children evaluated at 20 mo of age by using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID-II), the MacArthur Bates Communicative Development Inventories (CDI), and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised. There were 1265 mother-child pairs with complete data.
resultsPrenatal MeHg exposure had no direct associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes. Significant interactions were found between MeHg and PUFAs on the Psychomotor Developmental Index (PDI) of the BSID-II. Increasing MeHg was associated with lower PDI but only in children of mothers with higher n-6/n-3. Among mothers with higher n-3 PUFAs, increasing MeHg was associated with improved PDI. Higher maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) was associated with improved CDI total gestures (language development) but was significantly adversely associated with the Mental Development Index (MDI), both with and without MeHg adjustment. Higher n-6:n-3 ratios were associated with poorer scores on all 3 CDI outcomes.
conclusionsWe found no overall adverse association between prenatal MeHg exposure and neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, maternal PUFA status as a putative marker of the inflammatory milieu appeared to modify the associations of prenatal MeHg exposure with the PDI. Increasing DHA status was positively associated with language development yet negatively associated with the MDI. These findings may indicate the existence of an optimal DHA balance with respect to arachidonic acid for different aspects of neurodevelopment.
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