In a sample of 103 mother-child pairs from Colorado, about 15% of pregnant women tested positive for detectable levels of any type of cannabinoid at around 27 weeks gestation, Brianna F.
Moore’s group took a subsample of participants from the Healthy Start cohort study.
The researchers tested for 12 types of cannabinoids and cannabinoid-metabolites in urine samples, the majority of which belonged to the tetrahydrocannabinol family.
In additional to poorer metabolic outcomes in early childhood, offspring that were exposed to cannabinoids in utero were also more likely to be female and have a significantly lower birth weight.
Although a strength of the study was that cannabis exposure was measured via urinalysis and wasn’t self-reported, exposure was only measured at one point during pregnancy.
Kristen Monaco is a staff writer, focusing on endocrinology, psychiatry, and nephrology news.
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