ArticleInternational journal of hygiene and environmental health2017
Maternal prenatal blood mercury is not adversely associated with offspring IQ at 8 years provided the mother eats fish: A British prebirth cohort study.
Article in International journal of hygiene and environmental health, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Sex difference of pre- and post-natal exposure to six developmental neurotoxicants on intellectual abilities: a systematic review and meta-analysis of human studies.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2023Pooled it
- Relationships between seafood consumption during pregnancy and childhood and neurocognitive development: Two systematic reviews.Prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and essential fatty acids · 2019Pooled it
- Maternal environmental exposure and early-life health risks: The modulating role of nutritional status-A scoping review.iScience · 2026Review
- The landscape of pregnancy and prepregnancy cohorts: a scoping review.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- A Brazilian Minamata disease? Neurologists must be aware of mercury exposure and intoxication.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2025Review
- 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
- Maternal seafood consumption is associated with improved selenium status: Implications for child health.Neurotoxicology · 2024Article
- Article
- Health benefits of bluefin tuna consumption: (Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Review
- Maternal prenatal vitamin B12 intake is associated with speech development and mathematical abilities in childhood.Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.) · 2021Article
- Associations of metals and neurodevelopment: a review of recent evidence on susceptibility factors.Current epidemiology reports · 2020Article
- Postnatal exposure to mercury and neuropsychological development among preschooler children.European journal of epidemiology · 2020Article
- Mercury Exposure, Fish Consumption, and Perceived Risk among Pregnant Women in Coastal Florida.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- An abundance of seafood consumption studies presents new opportunities to evaluate effects on neurocognitive development.Prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and essential fatty acids · 2019Review
- A Birth Cohort Study on the Genetic Modification of the Association of Prenatal Methylmercury With Child Cognitive Development.American journal of epidemiology · 2019Article
- Fish Consumption During Pregnancy-Reply.JAMA pediatrics · 2019Article
- Article
- A review of guidance on fish consumption in pregnancy: is it fit for purpose?Public health nutrition · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundConflicting evidence concerning possible harm from mercury (Hg) in regard to offspring cognition if the woman eats fish has prompted this study to examine evidence from a British pre-birth cohort to investigate the relationship between the two.
methodsPregnant women (median prenatal blood mercury 1.86μg/L) resident in the study area with delivery between April 1991 and December 1992 were followed up and verbal, performance and total intelligence quotient (IQ) of 2062 offspring were measured at age 8. Analysis treated IQ as (a) continuous and (b) the lowest 25% of the distribution. Multiple and logistic regression analyses took account of social and demographic variables. Stratification considered children of fish eaters separately.
resultsBefore adjustment, mean full-scale IQ increased with increasing Hg (change with 1SD of Hg=+2.02; 95%CI+1.40,+2.64 IQ points; P <0.0001); after adjustment effect size was reduced although still positive (+0.61;95%CI -0.06,+1.29 IQ points; P=0.073). The adjusted positive relationship was stronger when fish-eating mothers were considered separately (+0.84:95%CI +0.13,+1.56 IQ points; P=0.021) in comparison with the outcomes for non-fish eaters, where the adjusted relationship was negative (-2.22;95%CI -5.00,+0.56 IQ points; P=0.117). The binary outcome showed a similar pattern with the adjusted OR for non-fish-eaters 1.79 (95%CI 1.10,2.93; P=0.019) per SD of Hg, significantly different from that for fish consumers (0.94;95%CI:0.82,1.08)(P
conclusionThe relationship between intrauterine exposure to mercury and offspring IQ appears to be benign provided the mother consumes fish.
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