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Table 2 Concentrations of toxic and essential elements in the maternal whole blood or serum (average concentrations across the second and third trimesters) and in the placenta and umbilical cord blood or serum

From: Exploring telomere length in mother–newborn pairs in relation to exposure to multiple toxic metals and potential modifying effects by nutritional factors

 

Maternal blood/serum (n = 169)

Placenta (n = 99)

Cord blood/serum (n = 98)

Lithium (μg/La or μg/kgc)

24 (1.9–145)

38 (5.2–143)

48 (9.5–156)

Boron (μg/Lb or μg/kgc)

135 (0.13–605)

143 (1.1–605)

193 (69–698)

Arsenic (μg/La or μg/kgc)

2.2 (0.42–23)

8.4 (1.6–51)

2.3 (0.47–14)

Cadmium (μg/La or μg/kgc)

0.16 (0.04–0.47)

3.6 (1.4–11)

<LOD (<LOD–0.12)d

Antimony (μg/La or μg/kgc)

2.6 (1.2–46)

0.024 (<LOD–1.4)e

2.5 (0.84–18)

Cesium (μg/La or μg/kgc)

110 (2.5–685)

419 (14–1526)

153 (7.2–690)

Lead (μg/La or μg/kgc)

21 (6.9–99)

5.8 (1.2–38)

14 (6.3–60)

Zinc (mg/La or mg/kgc)

6.1 (4.4–14)

8.6 (6.7–13)

1.8 (1.2–4.8)

Selenium (μg/Lb or μg/kgc)

86 (50–136)

176 (120–304)

49 (34–105)

  1. Values given represent median concentration (range)
  2. aUnit of concentrations in whole blood
  3. bUnit of concentrations in serum
  4. cUnit of concentrations in the placenta
  5. d71% below LOD (0.02 μg/kg)
  6. e45% below LOD (0.01 μg/L)