Lead concentrations in maternal and cord blood in women users of surma eye cosmetics |
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Authors: | S A Moghraby M A Abdullah O Karrar A S Akiel T A Shawaf Y A Majid |
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Affiliation: | Maternity Unit, King Abdul Aziz University Hospital, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. |
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Abstract: | A prospective study was undertaken to analyse the lead concentrations in maternal and cord blood of 71 pregnant Arab women at term who used eye cosmetics, particularly "surma". A total of 64 mothers (90%) used eye cosmetics throughout pregnancy, and, of these, 45% used surma. The lead content of the cosmetics available in the market was found to vary between zero and 88%. The mean lead concentrations in all blood samples were higher than the accepted natural levels of 0.001 mumol/l, but lower than the subtoxic level of 1.9 mumol/l. The mean lead concentration of all samples was lower than the subtoxic level of 1.9 mumol/l but higher than that quoted in the literature and suggested to be a natural level (0.001 mumol/l). This indicates that other lead pollutants may be involved. Lead concentrations in maternal and cord blood correlated well, but did not show any significant difference between surma and non-surma users. None of the newborns showed apparent congenital anomalies and their birthweights were comparable to average Saudi birthweights. |
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