SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2021
Mercury and Prenatal Growth: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of maternal exposure to trace elements and toxic metals with repeated measurements of foetal and early-childhood growth: a systematic review.Occupational and environmental medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Maternal Mercury Exposure and Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy: A Systematic Review.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2022Pooled it
- Prenatal methylmercury exposure disrupts developmental trajectories and induces sex-specific toxicity in pubertal rats.Research square · 2026Article
- Prenatal exposure to essential and toxic elements in relation to infant growth trajectories.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- Heavy metals detected in fetal and placental tissues in a pregnancy complicated by severe fetal growth impairment and sacrococcygeal teratoma: a case report.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Article
- Early Life Exposure To Multiple Metals, Nutrition, and Growth in Children - A Scoping Review.Current environmental health reports · 2025Article
- Gestational exposure to organochlorine compounds and metals and infant birth weight: effect modification by maternal hardships.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2024Article
- Article
- Environmental and genetic predictors of whole blood mercury and selenium concentrations in pregnant women in a UK birth cohort.Environmental advances · 2024Article
- Article
- Associations between Urinary Mercury/Cadmium Concentrations and Anthropometric Features in Korean Children.Toxics · 2024Article
- Fish Consumption Advisory Awareness and Behavior Among Asian Women of Childbearing Age - Milwaukee, Wisconsin, January 1, 2022-January 31, 2023.WMJ : official publication of the State Medical Society of Wisconsin · 2024Article
- Periconceptional and Prenatal Exposure to Metals and Extracellular Vesicle and Particle miRNAs in Human Milk: A Pilot Study.Exposure and health · 2023Article
- Article
- Lead, Mercury, and Cadmium Concentrations in Blood Products Transfused to Neonates: Elimination Not Just Mitigation.Toxics · 2023Article
- Effects of Non-Essential "Toxic" Trace Elements on Pregnancy Outcomes: A Narrative Overview of Recent Literature Syntheses.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- Prenatal Mercury Exposure and Infant Weight Trajectories in a UK Observational Birth Cohort.Toxics · 2022Article
- Environmental toxicants and placental function.Best practice & research. Clinical obstetrics & gynaecology · 2022Review
- Health Safety Assessment of Ready-to-Eat Products Consumed by Children Aged 0.5-3 Years on the Polish Market.Nutrients · 2022Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
The intrauterine environment is critical for healthy prenatal growth and affects neonatal survival and later health. Mercury is a toxic metal which can freely cross the placenta and disrupt a wide range of cellular processes. Many observational studies have investigated mercury exposure and prenatal growth, but no prior review has synthesised this evidence. Four relevant publication databases (Embase, MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, and Scopus) were systematically searched to identify studies of prenatal mercury exposure and birth weight, birth length, or head circumference. Study quality was assessed using the NIH Quality Assessment Tool, and results synthesised in a narrative review. Twenty-seven studies met the review criteria, these were in 17 countries and used 8 types of mercury biomarker. Studies of birth weight (total = 27) involving populations with high levels of mercury exposure, non-linear methods, or identified as high quality were more likely to report an association with mercury, but overall results were inconsistent. Most studies reported no strong evidence of association between mercury and birth length (n = 14) or head circumference (n = 14). Overall, our review did not identify strong evidence that mercury exposure leads to impaired prenatal growth, although there was some evidence of a negative association of mercury with birth weight.
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.