{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T05:17:43Z","timestamp":1778822263413,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]],"date-time":"2026-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770163200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004281","name":"National Science Centre","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2015\/19\/B\/ST4\/02725"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2015\/19\/B\/ST4\/02725"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004281","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Toxics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Determining the concentration of fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs), ethyl sulfate (EtS), and ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is crucial for establishing the true scale of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and enabling early diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. This study primarily aimed to compare two detection methods: retrospective maternal alcohol consumption surveys and chromatographic analysis of newborn meconium. Among 478 mothers, parallel survey data and meconium samples were collected. Nine FAEEs were measured by gas chromatography\u2013mass spectrometry, and EtG and EtS by liquid chromatography\u2013tandem mass spectrometry. The study also aimed to establish marker cut-offs and evaluate their clinical utility. While only 4% (approximately) of mothers reported alcohol consumption during pregnancy, the biomarker analysis suggested a significant underestimation of the actual PAE scale, highlighting the limitations of self-reported data. Analysis using the cumulative biomarker index for two biomarkers with a threshold of \u22655 indicated that alcohol consumption affected approximately 3% of the studied population, further demonstrating the low reliability of maternal self-reports. Ultimately, this study confirms that the combined EtG and EtS measurements provide the most reliable diagnostic information for PAE and underscores the necessity of objective meconium screening in clinical practice.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/toxics14020155","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]],"date-time":"2026-02-04T09:02:01Z","timestamp":1770195721000},"page":"155","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Estimation of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure: Comparison of Retrospective Survey and Measurement of Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters, Ethyl Sulfate, and Ethyl Glucuronide Concentrations in Neonatal Meconium"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8268-5506","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marek","family":"Wiergowski","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119bowa 23 St., 80-204 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9128-797X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iwona","family":"Ja\u0144czewska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Neonatology, Faculty of Medicine, 17 Mariana Smoluchowskiego St., 80-214 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0290-1243","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jolanta","family":"Wierzba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetric and Gynaecological Nursing, Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Medical University of Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119binki 7 St., 80-214 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-6228-9614","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monika","family":"Cicho\u0144-Kotek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetric and Gynaecological Nursing, Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Medical University of Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119binki 7 St., 80-214 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3879-729X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mateusz Kacper","family":"Wo\u017aniak","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119bowa 23 St., 80-204 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2546-3779","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Agata","family":"Kot-Wasik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gda\u0144sk University of Technology, 11\/12 Narutowicza St., 80-233 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6185-2125","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Marek","family":"Biziuk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Gda\u0144sk University of Technology, 11\/12 Narutowicza St., 80-233 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7258-8558","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jacek","family":"Sein Anand","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Health Sciences with the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Gdansk, 80-211 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"},{"name":"Pomeranian Centre of Toxicology, Kartuska 4\/6 St., 80-104 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2353-7874","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daria Barbara","family":"Schetz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University of Gda\u0144sk, D\u0119bowa 23 St., 80-204 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7093-8975","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ma\u0142gorzata","family":"Gli\u0144ska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Neonatology, Faculty of Medicine, 17 Mariana Smoluchowskiego St., 80-214 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0005-3824-2042","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katarzyna","family":"Hinca","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Gynecology, Obstetrics and Neonatology, Faculty of Medicine, 17 Mariana Smoluchowskiego St., 80-214 Gda\u0144sk, Poland"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"732","DOI":"10.1136\/adc.2007.120220","article-title":"Fetal alcohol syndrome: A prospective national surveillance study","volume":"93","author":"Elliott","year":"2008","journal-title":"Arch. 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