This study was undertaken in Gaza, Palestine, in a cohort of babies born in 2011. Hair samples of newborns were analyzed for metal load by DRC-ICP-MS. We report specific level of contamination by teratogen/toxicants metals of newborn babies, environmentally unexposed, according to their phenotypes at birth: normal full term babies, birth defects or developmentally premature. The occurrence of b...

Due to the number of new substances coming into use every year and the increasing amounts of chemicals, which are introduced into the environment, there is a high demand for a rapid, reliable and cost-effective method for detection of developmental toxicity. To meet this challenge various in vitro techniques have been established additional to in vivo animal testing. This review introduces the ...

Ethanol is a teratogen, inducing a variety of structural defects in developing humans and animals that are exposed in utero. Mechanisms of ethanol teratogenicity in specific defects are not well understood. Oxidative metabolism of ethanol by alcohol dehydrogenase or cytochrome P450 2E1 has been implicated in some of ethanol's teratogenic effects, either via production of acetaldehyde or competi...

Thalidomide is the best known human teratogen. Although withdrawn from the market in 1961, thalidomide was remarketed after 1965 in several countries, for the treatment of erythema nodosum leprosum. Thalidomide has a potent immunomodulatory property and has now a number of approved and off-label uses in dermatologic, oncologic, infectious and gastrointestinal conditions. In the U.S., FDA approv...

The potential of many drugs and chemicals to cause prenatal harm is well-established. The types of effects seen vary and include spontaneous abortions, stillbirths, congenital malformations present at birth, and conditions detected only months to years after birth. Most studies designed to determine whether agents cause malformations have examined the effects of exposure of the embryo or fetus ...