Baby teeth reveal toxic metal exposure risks in infants and children

Infants and children face developmental harm from toxic metal exposure, including cognitive impairment and other health complications.

A child's lost tooth, long treated as a keepsake or a small rite of passage, turns out to be something more: a biological ledger of the invisible threats a young body has absorbed during its most formative years. Researchers have found that baby teeth preserve a record of toxic metal exposure — lead, mercury, cadmium — accumulated during infancy and early childhood, when the brain and nervous system are at their most vulnerable. This discovery offers a non-invasive window into environmental harm that often goes undetected until its consequences are already written into a child's development. I

Baby teeth reveal toxic metal exposure risks in infants and children

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