A systematic review of prenatal exposure to potentially toxic metals and their effects on genetic material in offspring

The background concentration of metals and other environmental contaminants has risen recently. Because of genetic or epigenetic changes, early-life exposure to pollutants may determine a person’s susceptibility to chronic diseases as they mature. This review’s goal was to find a connection between exposure to Potentially Toxic Metals (PTMs) during pregnancy and in the first few months after birth and harmful effects on the offspring’s genetic make-up. Infertility and miscarriage, obstetric outcomes like preterm delivery and low birth weight, neurodevelopmental delay like autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and adult and children cancer are the main effects of toxic exposures connected to reproductive and developmental health. As, Cd, and Pb were the most frequently tested PTMs. Telomere length, gene or protein expression, mitochondrial DNA content, metabolomics, DNA damage, and epigenetic modifications were the main genetic changes in neonates related with prenatal PTM exposure. Numerous of these impacts were sex-specific and were more pronounced in boys. Exposures may typically be divided into the following categories, not withstanding the fact that there is much overlap in the kind of exposure and the related health outcomes: exposures to hazardous substances, air pollution, and climate change-related hazards. When a hazardous exposure is found, obstetric care doctors do not need to be experts in environmental health science to advise patients and, if necessary, send them to qualified specialists. Obstetrician-gynecologists and other obstetric care clinicians should learn about the toxic environmental exposures that are common in their particular geographic regions, such as local water safety warnings (for example, lead-contaminated water), regional air quality standards, and patients’ proximity to power plants and fracking sites. Although all populations are exposed to hazardous environmental agents, many environmental conditions that are detrimental to reproductive health disproportionately impact underprivileged communities and are covered by environmental justice concerns. Clinical contacts provide a chance to screen and educate patients about ways to lower harmful environmental health exposures during the pre-pregnancy and prenatal periods, especially those who are disproportionately affected. This Committee Opinion has been updated to incorporate more recent research on lowering exposure to harmful environments during pregnancy and in utero.