Serum metal levels in a population of Spanish pregnant women

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 71g/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