SynthesisEuropean child & adolescent psychiatry2025
Association between heavy metals exposure and risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in European child & adolescent psychiatry, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Neurodevelopmental Outcomes Associated with Early-Life Exposure to Heavy Metals: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Prenatal Arsenic, Cadmium, and Manganese Exposure on Neurodevelopment in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Pooled it
- Comparing Real and Virtual Nature Exposure on Cognition, Well-Being, and Brain Activity in Adults With and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Protocol for a Randomized Experimental Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Review
- Metals in water used by artisanal and small-scale gold miners for gold-mercury amalgamation in Western Kenya.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2026Article
- Global Burden, Temporal Trends, and Long-Term Projections of Mental Disorders Among Women of Childbearing Age: A GBD 2021 Analysis Using BAPC Modeling.International journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Exposure to heavy metals and neuropsychological performance in children with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- The role of the gut microbiome in the associations between lead exposure and child neurodevelopment.Toxicology letters · 2025Review
- Vinpocetine, a Phosphodiesterase Type 1 Inhibitor, Mitigates Locomotor Hyperactivity in Female Mice Exposed to Lead During Development.Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Neurodevelopmental impact of mining-related contamination in children from the Sonora river basin.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Heavy Metal Contamination: Sources, Health Impacts, and Sustainable Mitigation Strategies with Insights from Nigerian Case Studies.F1000Research · 2025Review
- Exposure to a mixture of four metals and associations with urinary oxidative stress biomarkers in Uruguayan adolescents.Journal of environmental exposure assessment · 2025Article
- Impact of plasma aluminum on neurocognitive outcomes at early school age in children with intestinal failure.Intestinal Failure (New York, N.Y.)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
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Heavy metals can negatively affect children's neurodevelopment, yet the relationship between heavy metals exposure and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children remains unclear. We aimed to examine associations between exposure to five common heavy metals (lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, and manganese) with neurodevelopmental toxicity and the risk of ADHD in children. Online databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched before February 29, 2024. A total of 31 studies involving 25,258 children were included in the final analysis. Our findings revealed that lead exposure was positively associated with ADHD risk in children (OR = 1.95, 95% CI: 1.57-2.41) overall, while the associations varied among different WHO regions, with the strongest in the Americas. Sensitivity analyses revealed significant associations between arsenic (OR = 1.53, 95% CI: 1.01-2.32) and manganese (OR = 1.79, 95% CI: 1.28-2.49) exposure and ADHD risk after omitting one study. Arsenic exposure was positively associated with ADHD risk in studies conducted in the Americas and adjusted for environmental smoke exposure. Positive associations between manganese exposure and ADHD risk were also found in several subgroup analyses. No significant associations were found for mercury and cadmium exposure. Dose-response meta-analysis suggested that children with higher blood lead levels exhibited a higher probability of ADHD diagnosis. Lead exposure consistently increases the risk of ADHD in children, while arsenic and manganese exposure may be associated with ADHD under different occasions. More research is required to understand heavy metals' impact on ADHD across varying exposure levels, particularly in less contaminated regions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
39126497What 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.