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New research from Wayne State University has found that exposure to lead can have serious health impacts to children of pregnant woman, and even her grandchildren many years later.
The research, from Doctor Douglas Ruden, professor at WSU’s obstetrics and gynecology department, shows that a mother’s lead exposure can affect an unborn child’s brain and cause developmental problems later in life. But Ruben admits it’s not clear what effect the DNA changes have on the body and its organs.
Ruden’s research involved 35 mothers and children visiting Detroit clinics to receive benefits from a program for low-income families at high risk for lead exposure, in part because many live in older homes with lead paint. It analyzed DNA in blood that had been drawn from the 35 women at the time of their birth, finding that the blood already carried the same DNA markers. That means that their own mothers also had been exposed to lead.
