ArticleEnvironment international2018
Urinary trace metals individually and in mixtures in association with preterm birth.
Article in Environment international, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 59 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
59 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis of maternal exposure to heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury, chromium) and adverse pregnancy outcomes.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Pooled it
- Prenatal metal(loid) exposure and preterm birth: a systematic review of the epidemiologic evidence.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluation of integrated, multimedia biomarkers of prenatal metals exposure in association with child neurodevelopment in Puerto Rico.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Prenatal Metal Exposome Reprograms Neonatal Metabolism: Trimester-Dependent Effects on Amino Acid and Carnitine Networks.Environment & health (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Prenatal urinary biomarkers of metal and metalloid exposure and child neurodevelopmental outcomes in Puerto Rico.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Maternal and Newborn Factors Associated with Meconium Metal Concentrations: A Cross-Sectional Study.Toxics · 2026Article
- Metalomics Revealed that Changes of Serum Elements were Associated with Oxidative Stress-Induced Inflammation of Cortex in a Mouse Model of Autism.Biological trace element research · 2025Article
- Article
- Associations of maternal blood metal concentrations with plasma eicosanoids among pregnant women in Puerto Rico.The Science of the total environment · 2024Article
- Accommodating detection limits of multiple exposures in environmental mixture analyses: an overview of statistical approaches.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Article
- Association between Maternal Exposure to Arsenic during Pregnancy and Risk of Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Iranian journal of public health · 2024Review
- The Correlation between Metal Mixed Exposure and Lung Function in Different Ages of the Population.Metabolites · 2024Article
- Beryllium and its inorganic compounds - Addendum: Re-evaluation of the BAR: Assessment Values in Biological Material - Translation of the German Version from 2024.The MAK collection for occupational health and safety · 2024Review
- Maternal cobalt concentration and risk of spontaneous preterm birth: the role of fasting blood glucose and lipid profiles.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Review
- Assessing lead exposure in U.S. pregnant women using biological and residential measurements.The Science of the total environment · 2023Article
- Preterm Birth and Metal Mixture Exposure among Pregnant Women from the Navajo Birth Cohort Study.Environmental health perspectives · 2023Article
- Role of Endometrial Extracellular Vesicles in Mediating Cell-to-Cell Communication in the Uterus: A Review.Cells · 2023Review
- Correlates of whole blood metal concentrations among reproductive-aged Black women.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2023Article
- Association between light rare earth elements in maternal plasma and the risk of spontaneous preterm birth: a nested case-control study from the Beijing birth cohort study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
One in ten infants born in the United States is born preterm, or prior to 37 weeks gestation. Exposure to elevated levels of metals, such as lead and arsenic, has been linked to higher risk of preterm birth (PTB), but consequences of lower levels of exposure and less studied metals are unclear. We examined the associations between 17 urinary trace metals individually and in mixtures in relation to PTB. The LIFECODES birth cohort enrolled pregnant women at <15 weeks gestation at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. We selected cases of PTB (n = 99) and unmatched controls (n = 291) and analyzed urine samples for a panel of trace metals (median: 26 weeks gestation). We used logistic regression models to calculate the odds ratio (OR) for PTB and subtypes of PTB based on presentation at delivery. Subtypes included spontaneous and placental PTB. We used elastic net (ENET) regularization to identify individual metals or pairwise interactions that had the strongest associations with PTB, and principal components analysis (PCA) to identify classes of exposures associated with the outcome. We observed increased odds of PTB (OR: 1.41, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.12, 1.78) in association with an interquartile range difference in urinary copper (Cu). We also observed an increased OR for selenium (OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.81). ENET selected Cu as the most important trace metal associated with PTB. PCA identified 3 principal components (PCs) that roughly reflected exposure to toxic metals, essential metals, and metals with seafood as a common source of exposure. PCs reflecting essential metals were associated with increased odds of overall and spontaneous PTB. Maternal urinary copper in the third trimester was associated with increased risk of PTB, and statistical analyses for mixtures indicated that after accounting for correlation this metal was the most important statistical predictor of the outcome.
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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.