Urinary nickel concentrations and selected pregnancy outcomes in delivering women and their newborns among arctic populations of Norway and Russia

The two objectives of this study were to compare urinary nickel excretion in pregnant women and their newborns living in the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk Counties of Russia with that in comparable Norwegian populations living in Finnmark and the city of Bergen and to assess the influence on pregnancy outcome of different risk variables, specifically urinary nickel concentrations and questionnaire-based anamnestic information. Life-style information and urine samples were collected from 50 consecutive mother-infant pairs from hospital delivery departments in three Russian and three Norwegian communities. Pregnancy outcomes were verified from medical records. Urinary nickel excretion was significantly higher in the Russian communities, independent of the presence of a nickel refinery as a local environmental source. The birth weight and mean body mass index of the newborn children (BMIC) were significantly lower (p < 0.001) in the Russian groups, with or without adjustment for gestational age. A multivariate linear regression analysis indicated that maternal urinary nickel concentration had no impact on birth weight. The maternal body mass index (BMI) and maternal height were positive explanatory variables; maternal urinary creatinine is suggested as a weak negative factor. Smoking was shown to be a strong negative predictor only in the Norwegian group among whom there was a significantly higher smoking frequency (p = 0.005). The significant contribution of a country factor in the predictive model is interpreted to indicate that a number of important risk factors for low birth weight were not identified.