Infant toenails reveal in utero exposure to low-level arsenic, study finds
Monday, July 7, 2014 - 20:30
in Health & Medicine
Infant toenails are a reliable way to estimate arsenic exposure before birth, a study shows. A growing body of evidence suggests that in utero and early-life exposure to arsenic may have detrimental effects on children, even at the low to moderate levels common in the United States and elsewhere. The fetus starts to develop toenails during the first trimester, making them an accurate measure of exposure to arsenic during the entire gestation.