Associations of gestational and childhood exposure to lead, cadmium, and fluoride with cognitive abilities, behavior, and social communication at 4 years of age: NICE birth cohort study.

Background: Early-life lead exposure affects cognitive development and emerging evidence suggests similar effects of cadmium and fluoride.

Objective: To assess the impact of gestational and childhood exposure to lead, cadmium, and fluoride on cognitive abilities and behavioral and social communication problems.

Methods: We studied 470 pregnant women (gestational week 29) and their 4-year-old children from the NICE cohort in northern Sweden.

Establishment of a Poliovirus Containment Program and Containment Certification Process for Poliovirus-Essential Facilities, United States 2017-2022.

Upon declaration of poliovirus (PV) type 2 eradication in 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) published PV containment requirements in the Global Action Plan III (GAPIII) for mitigating the risk of a facility-associated release post eradication. In 2018, the 71st World Health Assembly resolution urged member states retaining PV to appoint a National Authority for Containment (NAC), reduce the number of PV facilities, and submit applications for containment certification. The United States (US) NAC was established in 2018 for containment oversight, and two paths to WHO GAPIII containment certification were developed.

Toxic metals and essential trace elements in placenta and their relation to placental function.

Introduction: Placental function is essential for fetal development, but it may be susceptible to malnutrition and environmental stressors.

Objective: To assess the impact of toxic and essential trace elements in placenta on placental function.

Methods: Toxic metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, cobalt) and essential elements (copper, manganese, zinc, selenium) were measured in placenta of 406 pregnant women in northern Sweden using ICP-MS.

Extracellular Matrix Influences Gene Expression and Differentiation of Mouse Trophoblast Stem Cells.

Trophoblast stem (TS) cells were first isolated from the mouse placenta; however, little is known about their maintenance and niche in vivo. TS cells, like other stem cells, have a unique microenvironment in which the extracellular matrix (ECM) is a component. Placental pathology is associated with ECM change.

Associations of gestational and early-life exposure to toxic metals and fluoride with a diagnosis of food allergy or atopic eczema at 1 year of age.

Studies have indicated that early-life exposure to toxic metals and fluoride affects the immune system, but evidence regarding their role in allergic disease development is scarce. We aimed to evaluate the relations of exposure to such compounds in 482 pregnant women and their infants (4 months of age) with food allergy and atopic eczema diagnosed by a paediatric allergologist at 1 year of age within the Swedish birth-cohort NICE (Nutritional impact on Immunological maturation during Childhood in relation to the Environment). Urinary cadmium and erythrocyte cadmium, lead, and mercury concentrations were measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), urinary inorganic arsenic metabolites by ICP-MS after separation by ion exchange chromatography, and urinary fluoride by an ion-selective electrode.