Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Multiple Metals In Children’S Deciduous Teeth: Results From A Community-Initiated Pilot Study, Alexa Friedman, Julia Anglen Bauer, Christine Austin, Timothy Downs, Yorghos Tripodis, Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Roberta White, Manish Arora, Birgit Claus Henn

Sustainability and Social Justice

Background: Characterizing retrospective exposure to toxicants during multiple early-life developmental periods is challenging, yet critical for understanding developmental effects. Objective: To characterize early-life metal exposure using deciduous teeth in a community concerned about past exposures. Methods: Naturally shed teeth were collected from 30 children ages 5–13 years who resided in Holliston, Massachusetts since conception. We estimated weekly prenatal and postnatal (up to 1 year of age) exposure to 12 metals by measuring dentine concentrations using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Multivariable linear mixed models were used to explore sociodemographic, dietary, and behavioral correlates of dentine metal concentrations. Results: Temporal trends …