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Sally Ann Lederman,¹ Robert L. Jones,² Kathleen L. Caldwell,² Virginia Rauh,¹ Stephen E. Sheets,¹ Deliang Tang,¹ Sheila Viswanathan,¹ Mark Becker,³ Janet L. Stein,⁴ Richard Y. Wang,² and Frederica P. Perera¹

¹Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA; ²Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; ³Center for International Earth Science Information Network, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA; ⁴Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, New York, USA

Abstract
Objective: This study was designed to determine whether prenatal mercury exposure, including potential releases from the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster, adversely affects fetal growth and child development.

Methods: We determined maternal and umbilical cord blood total mercury of nonsmoking women who delivered at term in lower Manhattan after 11 September 2001, and measured birth outcomes and child development.

Results: Levels of total mercury in cord and maternal blood were not significantly higher for women who resided or worked within 1 or 2 miles of the WTC in the month after 11 September, compared with women who lived and worked farther away. Average cord mercury levels were more than twice maternal levels, and both were elevated in women who reported eating fish/seafood during pregnancy. Regression analyses showed no significant association between (ln) cord or maternal blood total mercury and birth outcomes. Log cord mercury was inversely associated with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development psychomotor score [Psychomotor Development Index (PDI) ] at 36 months (b = –4.2, p = 0.007) and with Performance (b = –3.4, p = 0.023) , Verbal (b = –2.9, p = 0.023) , and Full IQ scores (b = –3.8, p = 0.002) on the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Revised (WPPSI-R) , at 48 months, after controlling for fish/seafood consumption and other confounders. Fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy was significantly associated with a 5.6- to 9.9-point increase in 36-month PDI, and 48-month Verbal and Full IQ scores.

Conclusions: Blood mercury was not significantly raised in women living or working close to the WTC site in the weeks after 11 September 2001. Higher cord blood mercury was associated with reductions in developmental scores at 36 and 48 months, after adjusting for the positive effects of fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy.

Key words: birth weight, child development, fish consumption, mercury, pregnancy, WTC. Environ Health Perspect 116:1085–1091 (2008) . doi:10.1289/ehp.10831 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 31 March 2008]

Address correspondence to S.A. Lederman, Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 100 Haven Ave., #25F, Tower 3, New York, NY 10032 USA. Telephone: (212) 304-7280. Fax: (212) 544-1943. E-mail: sal1@columbia.edu

We thank J.C. King, G. DelPriore, C. Dodson, and K. Lester.

This research was supported by the September 11th Fund of the New York Community Trust and United Way of New York City ; the New York Times 9/11 Neediest Fund ; the National Philanthropic Trust ; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grants ES09089, 5P01 ES09600, and 5R01 ES08977, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant R827027.

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 31 August 2007 ; accepted 31 March 2008.