<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Placenta, the organ on which great attention is concentrated during pregnancy, represents an ineffective barrier to the transfer of hazardous heavy metals, mainly lead, into the foetus. The presence of lead in the placenta is an environmental hazard for a person’s future. Due to hormonal changes, lead is released during pregnancy into the bloodstream of the mother from deposits in the bones and in the teeth, where it has accumulated for years as a result of a contaminated environment. Since lead is a neurotoxic metal, exposure to lead during prenatal and postnatal development can cause serious neurocognitive damage and hence the development of an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a developing human. Our work provides an overall picture of the “toxic pathway“ of lead through the mother’s body, the risks arising from its transplacental transfer and its accumulation in the developing foetus as well as effective prevention to protect all newborns.</p></abstract>

Placenta, the organ on which great attention is concentrated during pregnancy, represents an ineffective barrier to the transfer of hazardous heavy metals, mainly lead, into the foetus. The presence of lead in the placenta is an environmental hazard for a person’s future. Due to hormonal changes, lead is released during pregnancy into the bloodstream of the mother from deposits in the bones and in the teeth, where it has accumulated for years as a result of a contaminated environment. Since lead is a neurotoxic metal, exposure to lead during prenatal and postnatal development can cause serious neurocognitive damage and hence the development of an Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in a developing human. Our work provides an overall picture of the “toxic pathway“ of lead through the mother’s body, the risks arising from its transplacental transfer and its accumulation in the developing foetus as well as effective prevention to protect all newborns.

The pathway of lead through the mother’s body to the child

Institute of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine

Interdisciplinary Toxicology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The pathway of lead through the mother\u2019s body to the child"}

Placenta, the organ on which great attention is concentrated during pregnancy, represents an ineffective barrier to the transfer of hazardous heavy metals,...

The pathway of lead through the mother’s body to the child

Published Online: Feb 20, 2020

Page range: 1 - 6

Received: Feb 02, 2019

Accepted: Jun 04, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/intox-2019-0001

Keywords
human placenta, lead, calcium, neurotoxicity, ADHD

© 2019 Vanda Rísová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The pathway of lead through the mother’s body to the child

Published Online: Feb 20, 2020

Page range: 1 - 6

Received: Feb 02, 2019

Accepted: Jun 04, 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/intox-2019-0001

Keywordshuman placenta, lead, calcium, neurotoxicity, ADHD

© 2019 Vanda Rísová, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
human placenta, lead, calcium, neurotoxicity, ADHD