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Lead exposure to children from consumption of backyard chicken eggs.

ABSTRACT: Backyard chicken ownership is rapidly increasing in urban areas in the United States, largely as a way to provide eggs for household consumption. Despite elevated levels of environmental lead contamination in many US cities, the role of backyard chicken eggs as a pathway for lead exposure, particularly for children, has received limited scrutiny. To characterize lead exposure from consumption of backyard chicken eggs for children and predict related effects on blood lead level (BLL), we conducted a cross-sectional study of backyard chicken owners in the Greater Boston area (n?=?51). We interviewed participants regarding egg consumption by household members and collected backyard eggs (n?=?201) and coop soil samples (n?=?48) for analysis. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to evaluate lead concentration in homogenized eggs and an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) portable device was used to assess soil lead levels in the laboratory. We used the USEPA's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic Model for Lead in Children (IEUBK) to assess the relative contribution of backyard egg consumption to aggregate BLL in children. Four scenarios were developed in the IEUBK model to address variability in egg consumption rates and egg lead contamination. Lead was detected in egg samples from 98% of the households that provided egg samples. Mean household lead concentration was 0.10??g/g (SD: 0.18). Egg lead concentrations ranged from below the limit of detection (0.0014??g/g) to 1.798??g/g (<1.4-1198 ppb). Egg lead levels were strongly positively correlated with lead concentration in coop soil (r?=?0.64; p?

SUBMITTER: Leibler JH

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6310228 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Lead exposure to children from consumption of backyard chicken eggs.

Leibler Jessica H JH Basra Komal K Ireland Thomas T McDonagh Alyssa A Ressijac Catherine C Heiger-Bernays Wendy W Vorhees Donna D Rosenbaum Marieke M

Environmental research 20180808

Backyard chicken ownership is rapidly increasing in urban areas in the United States, largely as a way to provide eggs for household consumption. Despite elevated levels of environmental lead contamination in many US cities, the role of backyard chicken eggs as a pathway for lead exposure, particularly for children, has received limited scrutiny. To characterize lead exposure from consumption of backyard chicken eggs for children and predict related effects on blood lead level (BLL), we conducte ...[more]

PMID: 30125763

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Project description:Growing evidence suggests that environmental exposures can influence blood pressure over the course of a lifetime. Exposure to toxic metals, such as lead (Pb) and arsenic (As), has been associated with increased blood pressure in adults, but few studies have examined the impacts of in utero and early life toxic metals exposure on blood pressure in childhood. As subclinical vascular changes are thought to begin early in life, it is possible that in utero toxic metals exposure may play a role in blood pressure homeostasis. In the ongoing New Hampshire Birth Cohort Study, we investigated whether in utero exposure to Pb and As was associated with measures of blood pressure in a total of 323 young children (mean age 5.5 years, SD 0.4). Pb and As were measured in maternal toenail samples collected at ~28 weeks gestation (n = 257) and/or 6 weeks postpartum (n = 285), which represent exposures ~6 to 12 months prior to collection and therefore reflect the early prenatal and late prenatal exposures, respectively. Five measurements of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were averaged for each child using a standardized technique. In linear regression analyses, where log2-transformed prenatal toenail Pb and As were modeled jointly and adjusted for child age, sex, height, weight and maternal smoking during pregnancy, we observed that a doubling of maternal prenatal toenail Pb was associated with statistically significant increases in child SBP (β: 0.58 mm Hg, 95% CI: 0.05, 1.11). We did not observe any association of prenatal or postpartum As, or postpartum Pb, with SBP or DBP. Exploratory sex-stratified analyses suggest that associations of prenatal Pb with BP may be stronger among boys (SBP β: 0.72 mm Hg: 95% CI: -0.01, 1.44; DBP β: 0.37; 95% CI: -0.09, 0.84), compared to girls (SBP β: 0.48 mm Hg: 95% CI: -0.31, 1.26; DBP β: -0.05; 95% CI: -0.52, 0.41), though tests for interaction did not reach statistical significance (p-interaction SBP = 0.059; DBP = 0.057). Our preliminary results suggest that in utero toxic metals exposures may be associated with early life increases in blood pressure in children, which could have consequences for long-term health.

Project description:BackgroundThermophilic Campylobacter species are a major cause of bacterial foodborne diarrhoea in humans worldwide. Poultry and their products are the predominant source for human campylobacteriosis. Resistance of Campylobacter to antibiotics is increasing worldwide, but little is known about the antibiotic resistance in Campylobacter isolated from chicken in Kenya. In this study, 35 suspected Campylobacter strains isolated from faeces and cloacal swabs of chicken were tested for their susceptibility to seven antibiotics using a broth microdilution assay and molecular biological investigations.ResultsOverall, DNA of thermophilic Campylobacter was identified in 53 samples by PCR (34 C. jejuni, 18 C. coli and one mix of both species) but only 35 Campylobacter isolates (31 C. jejuni and 4 C. coli) could be re-cultivated after transportation to Germany. Isolates were tested for their susceptibility to antibiotics using a broth microdilution assay. Additionally, molecular biological detection of antibiotic resistance genes was carried out. C. jejuni isolates showed a high rate of resistance to nalidixic acid, tetracycline and ciprofloxacin of 77.4, 71.0 and 71.0 %, respectively. Low resistance (25.8 %) was detected for gentamicin and chloramphenicol. Multidrug resistance in C. jejuni could be detected in 19 (61.3 %) isolates. Resistance pattern of C. coli isolates was comparable. Resistance to ciprofloxacin was confirmed by MAMA-PCR and PCR-RFLP in all phenotypically resistant isolates. The tet(O) gene was detected only in 54.5 % of tetracycline resistant C. jejuni isolates. The tet(A) gene, which is also responsible for tetracycline resistance, was found in 90.3 % of C. jejuni and in all C. coli isolates. Thirteen phenotypically erythromycin-resistant isolates could not be characterised by using PCR-RFLP and MAMA-PCR.ConclusionsTo the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report about resistance to antibiotics in thermophilic Campylobacter originating from chicken in Kenya. Campylobacter spp. show a high level of resistance to ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid and tetracycline but also a remarkable one to chloramphenicol and gentamicin and they are multidrug resistant. Resistance to antibiotics is a global public health concern. In Kenya, resistance surveillance needs further attention in the future. Efforts to establish at least a National Laboratory with facilities for performing phenotypic and genotypic characterization of thermophilic Campylobacter is highly recommended.

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Lead exposure to children from consumption of backyard chicken eggs.

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Lead exposure to children from consumption of backyard chicken eggs.

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