Children who were exposed to higher levels of trace minerals manganese and selenium during their mothers’ pregnancy had a lower risk of high blood pressure in childhood, according to a new study.

The researchers analyzed the levels of toxic metals and trace minerals in blood samples drawn from nearly 1,200 women in the Boston area who gave birth between 2002 and 2013. They found that higher levels of selenium or manganese in the mothers’ blood were associated with lower blood pressure readings in their children at clinic visits 3 to 15 years later.

The researchers also observed that manganese had a stronger inverse relationship with childhood blood pressure when maternal blood levels of cadmium, a toxic heavy metal, were higher — hinting that manganese lowers blood pressure in part by countering a blood pressure-raising effect of cadmium.

The results appear online June 23 in Environmental Health Perspectives.

«These results suggest that healthy levels of selenium and manganese in mothers’ diets during pregnancy may protect their children against developing high blood pressure,» says study senior author Noel Mueller, PhD, assistant professor in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Epidemiology. «This work highlights the importance of nutrition and environmental exposures in the womb for a child’s cardiovascular health and, as we continue research this further, could eventually lead to updated nutritional guidance and environmental regulations aimed at preventing disease.»

Hypertension is one of the major modifiable risk factors for other debilitating and deadly diseases including heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and Alzheimer’s disease. It is also very common; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about half of Americans over the age of 20 have hypertension — defined as systolic blood pressure above 130 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure above 80 mm Hg — or have been prescribed antihypertensive drugs.

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Materials provided by Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.