[Intersexual differences in the levels of trace elements in amniotic fluid in the 2d trimester of pregnancy].

The authors assessed during comprehensive examination of amniotic fluid obtained by transabdominal amniocentesis on account of genetic indication during the second trimester of normal pregnancy between the 15th and 22nd week of gestation four selected trace elements - Zn, Cu, Pb and Cd, using the method of atomic absorption spectrometry. One of the criteria for evaluation of the results was also the relationship of the concentration of the selected trace elements and sex of the foetus. In 157 amniotic fluids collected during the 16th-19th week of gestation they recorded a significantly elevated lead level in male foetuses.

Blood and placental concentrations of cadmium, lead, and mercury in mothers and their newborns.

Placental transfer of cadmium, lead and mercury was studied under the conditions of environmental exposures of pregnant women to these heavy metals. Fifty pregnant women from industrial area and a similar control group from a semirural area were examined. Cadmium, lead and total mercury levels were determined in maternal erythrocytes and plasma, in placenta, and in erythrocytes and plasma of umbilical cord blood using atomic absorption spectrophotometry.