Serum lead levels of cord blood in newborn immediately after birth

Assessment of the serum lead’s concentration in the newborn immediately after birth can be effective for the detection of lead poisoning in the early stages and prevent of developmental disorders and neuropsychiatric behaviors. This study aimed to assess the serum lead levels of cord blood in some of the hospitalized newborns. This cross-sectional analytic study conducted in the newborns ward of two hospitals (Rasoul Akram and Akbar Abadi) From December 2011 to October 2012 in Tehran, Iran. After non-probability sampling, 60 newborns in the first days after birth, underwent the cord blood sampling and the cord blood lead levels were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Then all of data were collected and analyzed. The serum lead concentration greater than 5 μg/dl was considered valuable. In total, 61.4% of samples were boys. The mean (±SD) of gestational age was 37.4±2.64 weeks and mean (±SD) of birth weight was 2701±642.8g. The mean (±SD) of maternal age was 29.20±6.73 years. 70% of mothers were urban. 13% of mothers had a history of drug use, and 5% were current smokers. The mean (±SD) of the serum lead level of cord blood was 2.97±2.24 μg/dl. This level was not associated with fetal gender, place of residence, drug history and current smoking. This level in the 16.7% of samples was greater than 5 μg/dl (high risk cases). High risk level was associated with maternal age, weight and fetal age (P=0.02, P=0.004, P=0.03), but this level was not associated with fetal gender, place of residence, drug history and current smoking. Serum lead level of cord blood was relatively higher than other studies, although the prevalence of the high risk newborns (serum blood lead levels greater than 5 μg/dl) was low. Further research has recommended assessing the serum lead level in other newborns in the different areas to identify risk factors of neuromotor outcome in infants to prevent.