The effect of parity on maternal hair chromium concentration and the changes during pregnancy.

The effect of parity of maternal hair chromium and the changes during pregnancy were investigated. Hair samples were collected from nulliparous and multiparous women and longitudinally from pregnant women. Chromium was determined by flameless atomic absorption. Mean hair chromium in multiparous women was low when compared with nulliparous women of comparable ages. No significant decrease in hair chromium was observed between multiparous women and women who had borne only one child. Mean hair chromium in longitudinal samples was observed to decrease with advancing pregnancy. When initial hair chromium values were below 200 ng/g, the significant decrease occurred only in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy. These results show that 1) hair chromium in multiparous women is lower than that in nulliparous women, 2) depending on chromium nutrition, hair chromium of pregnant woman shows a decrease with advancing pregnancy, 3) if adequate amounts of chromium are not taken during pregnancy, deficiency may result with increasing parity.