Risks of addictive clay or kaolin consumption in pregnant women: Three cases reports

In the literature, a chronic consumption of kaolin potentially exposes pregnant women to two risks: iron deficiency anemia/micronutrient deficiency and heavy metal poiso-ning. The consequences for the fetus and the newborn are still very little documented in the literature. We therefore report the cases of 3 pregnant women who consumed aluminum sili-cate, in the form of kaolin or coomba, as a cultural practice and Pica syndrome. The first case was documented by qualitative and quantitative analysis of a sample of the consumed kaolin. Quantitative analysis of the kaolin consumed by patient 1 showed a very high content of alumi-nium and a high content of copper, vadanium and lead. Only one patient out of the 3 presented an iron deficiency anemia with a normal blood lead level. The others had no repercussions. The Poison Control Center retrospectively followed up on these pregnant women to determine the progress of the delivery and the absence of complications in the newborn. These follow-ups indicated uncomplicated deliveries and normal birth weight. Despite the very high aluminum content of patient 1's sample, the risk of occurrence of chronic effects related to aluminum remains minimal given the low exceedance of the health reference values according to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). (C) 2023 Societe Francaise de Toxicologie Analytique. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.