Methods for Individualized Determination of Methylmercury Elimination Rate and De-Methylation Status in Humans Following Fish Consumption.

ABSTRACT: Methylmercury (MeHg) exposure via fish in the diet remains a priority public health concern. Individual variation in response to a given MeHg exposure and the biotransformation of MeHg that follows complicate our understanding of this issue. MeHg elimination from the human body occurs slowly (elimination rate (kel) approximately 0.01 day(-1) or approximately 70 days half-life [t1/2]) and is a major determinant of the Hg body burden resulting from fish consumption. The underlying mechanisms that control MeHg elimination from the human body remain poorly understood. We describe here improved methods to obtain a MeHg elimination rate via longitudinal Hg analysis in hair using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. We measured MeHg elimination rates in eight individuals f

SUBMITTER: Rand MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4757939 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature