Prenatal mercury exposure, fish intake and child emotional behavioural regulation in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study

Kristine Vejrup; Anne-Lise Brantsæter; Helle Margrete Meltzer; Mohammadreza Mohebbi; Helle Katrine Knutsen; Jan Alexander; Margareta Haugen; Felice Jacka

doi:10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000412

Prenatal mercury exposure, fish intake and child emotional behavioural regulation in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study

BMJ Nutr Prev Health. 2022 Nov 15;5(2):313-320. doi: 10.1136/bmjnph-2021-000412. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Authors

Kristine Vejrup^{1

2}, Anne-Lise Brantsæter³, Helle Margrete Meltzer³, Mohammadreza Mohebbi⁴, Helle Katrine Knutsen³, Jan Alexander³, Margareta Haugen³, Felice Jacka^{5

6}

Affiliations

¹ Center for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
² Institute of Military Epidemiology, Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, Ullensaker, Norway.
³ Division of Climate and Environmental Health, Department of Food Safety, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Biostatistics Unit, Deakin University Faculty of Health, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
⁵ Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Clinical Translation, Food & Mood Centre, School of Medicine, Barwon Health, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.
⁶ Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Centre for Adolescent Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.

Abstract

Objective: While maternal fish consumption in pregnancy has consistently been linked to better cognitive and emotional outcomes in children, fish is also a primary source of exposure to methyl mercury (MeHg), which has been linked to poorer child cognitive outcomes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the associations between MeHg exposure, using calculated MeHg exposure from maternal diet and total mercury (Hg) concentration in maternal blood during pregnancy, and child internalising and externalising behaviours at 3 and 5 years of age.

Design and participants: The study sample comprised 51 238 mother-child pairs in the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study. Data on maternal blood Hg concentration in gestational week 18 were available for a sub-sample of 2936 women. Maternal MeHg exposure from diet was calculated from a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire answered in mid-pregnancy. Mothers reported children's emotional behaviour at age 3 and 5 years by questionnaires including twenty items from the Child Behaviour Checklist. Longitudinal associations were examined using generalised estimating equations, adjusted for potential confounders and stratified by maternal fish intake.

Results: Maternal blood Hg concentration (median=1.02 µg/L, 90th percentile=2.22, range=0-13.8) was not associated with emotional behaviour in children. Increasing dietary MeHg intake (median 0.15 µg/kg body weight/week, 90th percentiles=0.31, range=0-1.86) was significantly associated with lower internalising β=-0.03 (95% CI -0.05 to -0.00) and externalising child behaviours β=-0.04 (95% CI -0.07 to -0.02) in adjusted models. The inverse associations were also apparent when stratifying by low/high maternal fish intake (<400 and ≥400 g/week).

Conclusions: The results indicated that prenatal MeHg exposure, well below the weekly tolerable intake established by European Food Safety Authority (1.3 µg/kg bw), did not adversely affect child emotional regulation. Children of mothers consuming fish regularly were less likely to show signs of emotional behavioural problems.

Keywords: mental health; nutrition assessment.