Urinary arsenic and spontaneous pregnancy loss – a hypothesis-generating case-control investigation in western Romania

• Published in: Chemosphere (Oxford) 2023-09, Vol.335, p.139167-139167, Article 139167
• Main Authors: Neamtiu, Iulia A., Bloom, Michael S., Clark, Juliana M., Pop, Cristian, Marincas, Olivian, Berindan-Neagoe, Ioana, Braicu, Cornelia, Gurzau, Eugen S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abortion, Spontaneous - epidemiology; Arsenic - analysis; Arsenicals - analysis; Case-Control Studies; Cotinine - analysis; Drinking Water - analysis; Environmental Exposure - analysis; Exposure; Female; Groundwater; Humans; Inorganic arsenic; Pregnancy; Pregnancy outcomes; Romania; Romania - epidemiology
• ISSN: 0045-6535; 1879-1298; 1879-1298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139167

Arsenic occurs as a natural contaminant of drinking water supplies in arsenic endemic areas, posing a threat to public health. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between urinary arsenic concentrations and spontaneous pregnancy loss in a population with low-moderate level drinking water arsenic exposure (mostly 50 μg/L in another interaction model (P for interaction = 0.07). These results suggest a potential modest increase in the odds of pregnancy loss associated with increased total urinary arsenic among women smoking during pregnancy (urinary cotinine >50 μg/L). Prenatal vitamin use may act as a protective factor for arsenic exposure associated pregnancy loss, but appears to be less protective with increasing urinary inorganic arsenic concentrations. [Display omitted] •We enrolled 150 cases with pregnancy losses and 150 controls residing in Romania.•We measured arsenic species in urine and abstracted data from medical records.•Women were exposed to low levels of arsenic in drinking water, mostly