Bangladesh Infants Are Underweight Due To Arsenic Contamination

Dhaka, Bangladesh (AHN) - Women exposed to high levels of arsenic during pregnancy are at increased risk of having a low-birth-weight infant.

The higher the mother's exposure to arsenic, the lower the infant's birth weight, according to a study published in the October Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Arsenic contamination from industrial or natural sources is a problem in many countries, including the United States. In Bangladesh, an estimated 133 million people are at risk of drinking water contaminated with arsenic.

Led by Dr. Karen L. Huyck of Harvard School of Public Health, researchers evaluated arsenic exposure in 52 pregnant women in Bangladesh, average age 24 years. Arsenic exposure at various times during pregnancy was compared with the infants' final birth weight.

Women who had high levels of arsenic measured in hair samples during early pregnancy - around the end of the first trimester - were more likely to give birth to a low-birth-weight infant.

For each one-microgram increase in the mother's hair arsenic level, birth weight decreased by 194 grams, or nearly seven ounces. Mothers at the highest level of contamination had hair arsenic levels of over three micrograms (per gram).