New research suggests that exposure to low levels of arsenic in the womb could lead to early puberty or obesity, UPI reported.

After conducting an animal study, researchers from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) found that female mice exposed in utero, or in the womb, to low levels of arsenic through drinking water displayed signs of early puberty and became obese as adults.

Arsenic is a chemical element that can be found in drinking water, seafood, rice, and poultry.

"We unexpectedly found that exposure to arsenic before birth had a profound effect on onset of puberty and incidence of obesity later in life," Humphrey Yao, co-author of the study and NIEHS reproductive biologist, said in a statement.

For the study, researchers divided pregnant mice into three groups. The control group received no arsenic in its drinking water, while the two experimental groups received either the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standard  of arsenic or 42.5 parts per million of arsenic, a level known to have detrimental effects in mice, Talk Radio News Service reported. The mice were exposed between 10 days after fertilization and birth, which corresponds to the middle of the first trimester and birth in humans.

Researchers found that obesity and early onset puberty particularly affected female mice.

"Although these mice were exposed to arsenic only during fetal life, the impacts lingered through adulthood," Yao added.

Researchers did not examine in this study whether males also experienced early onset puberty, but they noted that male mice exposed to arsenic in utero also displayed weight gain as they aged. Both the low and high doses of arsenic resulted in weight gain.

Lead author Karina Rodriguez said the study highlights the need to research long-term impacts of what mothers eat, drink, and breathe during pregnancy on the welfare of the offspring.

The findings are detailed in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.