The journal article ‘Children’s Health: Sex-Specific Cognitive Effects of Lead’ by Barrett looked at the neurotoxic effects of lead in infant children and wanted to determine if there was any difference between male and female infants in terms of neurotoxicity. Lead is extremely harmful to the developing brain, and early exposure can limit children’s cognitive and behavioral development. The original threshold was at 10ug/dL, but other research states that the number may be actually lower.
The study used 457 infants following certain criteria, such as the mothers being non-smokers and not having a history for chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes. When the infants were born, a cord blood sample was collected to determine lead concentration. At 12, 24, and 36 months, the Mental Development Index (MDI) of the Bayley Scales of Infant, which is a common tool used to assess the mental development of young children. Normal MDI scores are at least 85; below 85 indicates delayed development. Amongst boys, a higher cord blood lead level was significantly associated with a 4.5 point drop in MDI scores. Herbert Needleman, one of the researchers, states that boys are more sensitive to all brain insults, including neurotoxic agents and head injuries. According to him, the ‘basic’ brain is female, and masculinity is an addition, and therefore it is more easily damaged.
I think this article is critical for future research and overall concern for pregnant mothers in terms of lead toxicity. It enforces the general idea that anything that is toxic to the human body is toxic at lower concentrations in the unborn fetus, and therefore pregnant mothers should avoid lead-based items as much as possible during their pregnancy, in a similar fashion to cigarettes, alcohol, and other toxic substances.
The full article can be found here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2737040/?tool=pubmed
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