Iodine status and use of iodized antiseptics in the mother/newborn couple

Iodine status was evaluated by assessment of urinary iodine excretion in 22 1 mothers and their 223 newborns. During the first month after childbirth, 59.3 per cent of the mothers and 26.5 per cent of the newborns received app lications of iodized antiseptic containing Polyvidone-iodine. 50.2 per cent of the newborns and 24.9 per cent of the mothers had a urinary iodine of m ore than 20 mu g/dl (iodine excess). For the mothers and the newborns who h ad received applications of iodized antiseptic, 38.2 per cent and 74.6 per cent had an iodine excess, respectively. This iodine excess is directly rel ated to use of iodized antiseptic. Such high iodine levels may contribute t o the risk of thyroid disorders, and particularly to transient congenital h ypothyroidism at a critical age for normal development of the nervous syste m.