Children's Environmental Health Studies (CEHS)

Albany Pregnancy Infancy Lead Study (APILS)

APILS was a prospective, longitudinal study, initiated to address the question of nutrient-lead interaction and to explore the impact of early lead concentration on infant growth and development. The study was conducted in two phases that differed in follow-up protocol and lead concentration measurement methods: phase one from 1986 to 1992 and phase two from 1992 to 1998.

Phase one was conducted in poor pregnant women and their infants, to examine the determinants of maternal and infant lead levels and their effects on infant growth and development. Data from the study afforded us the opportunity to eamine the hypothesis that lead levels among poor pregnant women vary by season of the year, and to determine whether their lead levels declined concurrently with the national secular trend. Results of this study led us to conclude that a real seasonal effect, different from that observed in children and independent of secular trends, exists in pregnant women. Physicians who include lead testing as part of their obstetric care can use this information in counseling their patients.

Phase two was conducted to determine the patterns of change in mothers' blood lead levels during pregnancy; the relationship of meothers' lead levels and nutritional status to their offspring's lead levels and development at birth and during infancy; and the relationship of infants' diet to infants' physical cognitive, and behavioral growth and maturation. Results of this study suggest that there are significant independent associations between maternal blood lead levels and both concurrent hematocrit and the trimester in which the blood is drawn. Consequently, when interpreting test results clinicians should account from the dynamics of these variable sin determining appropriate care for both the mother and the neonate. Studies of effect of prenatal exposure should take these dynamics into account when estimating the lead exposure of the fetus.

PUBLICATIONS :

2004:

Relationship between blood lead and dietary intakes of infants from 3 to 12 months of age. L.M. Schell, M. Denham, A.D. Stark, J. Ravenscroft, P. Parsons and E. Schulte. Environmental Research. 96(3): 264-73.

2003:

Maternal blood lead concentration, diet during pregnancy and anthropometry predict neonatal blood lead in a socioeconomically disadvantaged population. L.M. Schell, M. Denham, A. D. Stark, M. Gomez, J. Ravenscroft, P. J. Parsons, A. Aydermir, R. Samelson. Environmental Health Perspectives, 111 (2):195-200.

2002:

Longitudinal study of energy and nutrient intakes for infant from low income, urban families. K. Nolan, L. M. Schell, A. D. Stark, M. I. Gomez. Public Health Nutrition 5: 405-13.

2000:

Variation in Blood Lead and Hematocrit Levels during Pregnancy in a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Population. L.M. Schell, S. Czerwinski, A.D. Stark, P.J. Parsons, M. Gomez, R. Samelson. Archives of Environmental Health 55(2):134-140.

1999:

Human physical growth and exposure to toxicants: lead and polychlorinated biphenyls. Schell, L.M. In Human Growth in Context. F.E. Johnston, P. Eveleth & B. Zemel (eds). London: Smith Gordon, Pp. 221-238.

1998:

Using patterns of child growth and development to assess community-wide effects of low-level exposure to toxic materials. L. M. Schell. In, Hazardous Waste: Toxicology and Health Effects. Barry L. Johnson, John S. Andrews, Charles Xintara and Myron A. Mehlman (eds.) Princeton , N.J. : Princeton Scientific Publishing Co., pp. 259-265.

Environmental health, social inequality and biologic difference. L. M. Schell and S. Czerwinski. In, Human Biology of Social Inequality. S. Strickland and P. Shetty (eds.), Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 114-131.

1997:

Blood Lead Level, by Year and Season, among Poor Pregnant Women. LM Schell, AD Stark, MI Gomez, & WA Grattan. Archives of Environmental Health, 52(4):286-291.