Prenatal heavy metal exposure and pediatric asthma, allergic rhinitis, atopic dermatitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

We review the prevalence of allergic diseases in children across prenatal exposures to heavy metals. This systematic review and meta-analysis is registered in the PROSPERO database (CRD42023478471). A comprehensive search of PubMed, Web of Science, Medline and Cochrane library was conducted from the database inception until 31 October 2023. The Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale (NOS) was used to assess the quality of included studies. We used a random-effects model to summarize the effects from the studies. A total of 16 studies were included, 120,065 mother-child pairs enrolled. The NOS scores indicated that the quality of the literature included in the study was of a high standard. The final results indicate that prenatal exposure to Pb increased the incidence of wheeze and Eczema in infants, and exposure to Ni and CD increased the incidence of AD in infants.