Serum metal levels in a population of Spanish pregnant women

Abstract Objective To describe serum levels of calcium, copper, selenium, magnesium, iron and zinc and evaluate their relationship with maternal socio-demographic characteristics and dietary variables in women in the first trimester of pregnancy. Method Cross-sectional study with 1279 participants from the INMA cohorts. Results The concentrations of the elements analyzed were within the normal range. Associations with higher levels of these metals were found for calcium with white meat intake (p = 0.026), for copper with excess body weight (p 71 g/day) (p = 0.014) and having been born in Spain (p = 0.001). Further, lower iron levels were associated with being overweight (p = 0.021) or obese (p Conclusions Our results suggest that trace elements in the analyzed cohorts are adequate for this stage of pregnancy. The variability in these elements is mainly linked to socio-demographic and anthropometric variables.