ArticleInternational journal of hygiene and environmental health2016
Blood mercury levels and fish consumption in pregnancy: Risks and benefits for birth outcomes in a prospective observational birth cohort.
Article in International journal of hygiene and environmental health, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Association between maternal exposure to mercury during pregnancy and birth weight: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of maternal exposure to heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium) and adverse pregnancy outcomes.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Mercury and Prenatal Growth: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- Article
- Maternal environmental exposure and early-life health risks: The modulating role of nutritional status-A scoping review.iScience · 2026Review
- Sequential Mediation by Maternal Weight Gain and Late Blood Metal Concentration in the Association Between Heavy Metal Exposure in Early Pregnancy and Fetal Growth.Journal of Korean medical science · 2026Article
- Seafood intake in children at age 7 years and neurodevelopmental outcomes in an observational cohort study (ALSPAC).European journal of nutrition · 2025Observational
- Seafood Toxicant Exposure During Pregnancy, Lactation, and Childhood and Child Outcomes: A Scoping Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2025Article
- Dietary and related data collected during pregnancy in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).Wellcome open research · 2025Article
- Fish consumption benefits and PFAS risks: Epidemiology and public health recommendations.Toxicology reports · 2024Review
- Association of maternal blood mercury concentration during the first trimester of pregnancy with birth outcomes.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Preterm Birth and Metal Mixture Exposure among Pregnant Women from the Navajo Birth Cohort Study.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Fish Consumption during Pregnancy in Relation to National Guidance in England in a Mixed-Methods Study: The PEAR Study.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Prenatal Mercury Exposure and Infant Weight Trajectories in a UK Observational Birth Cohort.Toxics · 2022Article
- Occupational and environmental mercury exposure and human reproductive health - a review.Journal of the Turkish German Gynecological Association · 2022Article
- Prenatal Exposure to Mixtures of Persistent Endocrine-disrupting Chemicals and Birth Size in a Population-based Cohort of British Girls.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2021Article
- Association of Mercury Exposure and Maternal Sociodemographics on Birth Outcomes of Indigenous and Tribal Women in Suriname.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Unveiling the Features of Mercury-Associated Minimal Change Disease: Comparison with Primary Minimal Change Disease.Kidney diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Article
- Fish as bioindicators: coal and mercury pollution in Colombia's ecosystems.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo avoid exposure to mercury, government advice on fish consumption during pregnancy includes information on fish species to avoid and to limit, while encouraging consumption of least two portions of fish per week. Some women may, however, chose to avoid fish completely during pregnancy despite potential benefits to the fetus.
objectivesOur aims were to evaluate the effects of blood mercury levels in pregnant women on birth outcomes in the UK, and to compare outcomes in those who ate fish with those who did not.
methodsPregnant women were enrolled in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Whole blood samples for singleton pregnancies with a live birth were analysed for Hg by inductively coupled plasma dynamic reaction cell mass spectrometry (n=4044). Fish intake was determined by a food frequency questionnaire during pregnancy. Data collected on the infants included anthropometric variables and gestational age at delivery. Regression models were adjusted for covariates using SPSS v23.
resultsThere were no significant associations of maternal blood Hg level with birthweight, head circumference or crown-heel length in adjusted linear regression models. Similarly, there were no increased odds of low birthweight or preterm delivery in adjusted logistic regression models. When the models were repeated after stratification into fish-eaters and there were no associations except for a negative association with birthweight in non-fish-eaters (unstandardised B coefficient -58.4 (95% confidence interval -113.8, -3.0) g, p=0.039).
conclusionModerate mercury levels in pregnancy were not associated with anthropometric variables, or on the odds of low birthweight or preterm birth. Fish consumption may have a protective effect on birthweight. Consumption of fish in line with government guidelines during pregnancy should be encouraged.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.