Prenatal methylmercury exposure and language delay at three years of age in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study

Prenatal methylmercury (MeHg) exposure and its possible neurodevelopmental effects in susceptible children are of concern. Studies of MeHg exposure and negative health outcomes have shown conflicting results and it has been suggested that co-exposure to other contaminants and/or nutrients in fish may confound the effect of MeHg. Our objective was to examine the association between prenatal exposure to MeHg and language and communication development at three years, adjusting for intake of fish, n − 3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n − 3 LCPUFAs) and co-exposure to dioxins and dioxin like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs).We used data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) collected between 2002 and 2008. The study sample consisted of 46,750 mother-child pairs. MeHg exposure was calculated from reported fish intake during pregnancy by a FFQ in mid-pregnancy. Children's language and communication skills were measured by maternal report on the Dale and Bishop grammar rating and the Ages and Stages communication scale (ASQ). We estimated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) using logistic regressions.Median MeHg exposure was 1.3 μg/day, corresponding to 0.14 μg/kg bw/week. An exposure level above the 90th percentile (> 2.6 μg/day, > 0.29 μg/kg bw/week) was defined as the high MeHg exposure. Results indicated an association between high MeHg exposure and unintelligible speech with an adjusted OR 2.22 (1.31, 3.72). High MeHg exposure was also associated with weaker communication skills adjusted OR 1.33 (1.03, 1.70). Additional adjustment for fish intake strengthened the associations, while adjusting for PCBs and n − 3 LCPUFA from diet or from supplements had minor impact. In conclusion, significant associations were found between prenatal MeHg exposure above the 90th percentile and delayed language and communication skills in a generally low exposed population.     

缺水地区水资源经济价值的异同辨析——以北京市和陕西省为例

不同发展水平缺水地区的水资源边际生产价值大小是不一样的。本文选取北京和陕西为研究案例区,根据计量经济学中的柯布-道格拉斯(Cobb-Dauglas)生产函数理论,将水资源作为生产要素,并结合劳动力和资本要素,建立了水资源生产函数模型。在以上研究的基础上,以资本、劳动力、用水量为自变量,第一、二、三产业及综合生产GDP为因变量,采用岭回归方法对模型参数进行了拟合计算,同时计算分析了2007年研究案例区第一、二、三产业及综合生产用水的产出弹性、价格弹性及水资源边际生产价值(即水资源影子价格)。通过分析比较研究案例区之间及案例区内各产业间的计算结果,辨识了区域与行业间的用水特征及效率差异,分析了研究案例区产业布局与水资源配置中存在的主要问题,并对今后研究案例区的经济社会发展战略提出了建议。