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Exposure to total and methylmercury among pregnant women in Suriname: sources and public health implications.

ABSTRACT: Previous research has found that women and children living in rural, interior communities in Suriname have high concentrations of mercury in hair. Freshwater fish from these areas also have high concentrations of mercury. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations in parts of the country use elemental mercury to extract gold from soils and sediments. Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations have been determined in hair and blood from pregnant women across the country. Pregnant women from interior communities have significantly higher concentrations of both total and methylmercury in hair (median total mercury in hair 3.64?µg/g) compared with pregnant women from two urban coastal cities, Paramaribo (0.63?µg/g) and Nickerie (0.74?µg/g). Total and methylmercury concentrations in blood and hair are highly correlated (r?=?0.986, r?=?0.974) with methylmercury making up 86% of the total in blood and 97% of the total in hair. Most women in the interior regions rely heavily on local fish as part of their regular diet, and many live outsides of areas with active ASGM operations. This study demonstrates that diet and fish consumption largely govern mercury exposures in pregnant women in Suriname.

SUBMITTER: Wickliffe JK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7704553 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Exposure to total and methylmercury among pregnant women in Suriname: sources and public health implications.

Wickliffe Jeffrey K JK Lichtveld Maureen Y MY Zijlmans C Wilco CW MacDonald-Ottevanger Sigrid S Shafer Martin M Dahman Christa C Harville Emily W EW Drury Stacy S Landburg Gwendolyn G Ouboter Paul P

Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology 20200528 1

Previous research has found that women and children living in rural, interior communities in Suriname have high concentrations of mercury in hair. Freshwater fish from these areas also have high concentrations of mercury. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations in parts of the country use elemental mercury to extract gold from soils and sediments. Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations have been determined in hair and blood from pregnant women across the country. Pregnant women ...[more]

PMID: 32461550

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Project description:BackgroundAlthough prenatal methylmercury exposure has been linked to poorer intellectual function in several studies, data from two major prospective, longitudinal studies yielded contradictory results. Associations with cognitive deficits were reported in a Faroe Islands cohort, but few were found in a study in the Seychelles Islands. It has been suggested that co-exposure to another contaminant, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), may be responsible for the positive findings in the former study and that co-exposure to nutrients in methylmercury-contaminated fish may have obscured and/or protected against adverse effects in the latter.ObjectivesWe aimed to determine the degree to which co-exposure to PCBs may account for the adverse effects of methylmercury and the degree to which co-exposure to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) may obscure these effects in a sample of Inuit children in Arctic Québec.MethodsIQ was estimated in 282 school-age children from whom umbilical cord blood samples had been obtained and analyzed for mercury and other environmental exposures.ResultsPrenatal mercury exposure was related to poorer estimated IQ after adjustment for potential confounding variables. The entry of DHA into the model significantly strengthened the association with mercury, supporting the hypothesis that beneficial effects from DHA intake can obscure adverse effects of mercury exposure. Children with cord mercury ≥ 7.5 μg/L were four times as likely to have an IQ score < 80, the clinical cut-off for borderline intellectual disability. Co-exposure to PCBs did not alter the association of mercury with IQ.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first study to document an association of prenatal mercury exposure with poorer performance on a school-age assessment of IQ, a measure whose relevance for occupational success in adulthood is well established. This association was seen at levels in the range within which many U.S. children of Asian-American background are exposed.

Project description:BackgroundMethylmercury (MeHg) is a known neuro-toxicant. Emerging evidence indicates it may have adverse effects on the neuro-logic and other body systems at common low levels of exposure. Impacts of MeHg exposure could vary by individual susceptibility or be confounded by beneficial nutrients in fish containing MeHg. Despite its global relevance, synthesis of the available literature on low-level MeHg exposure has been limited.ObjectivesWe undertook a synthesis of the current knowledge on the human health effects of low-level MeHg exposure to provide a basis for future research efforts, risk assessment, and exposure remediation policies worldwide.Data sources and extractionWe reviewed the published literature for original human epidemiologic research articles that reported a direct biomarker of mercury exposure. To focus on high-quality studies and those specifically on low mercury exposure, we excluded case series, as well as studies of populations with unusually high fish consumption (e.g., the Seychelles), marine mammal consumption (e.g., the Faroe Islands, circumpolar, and other indigenous populations), or consumption of highly contaminated fish (e.g., gold-mining regions in the Amazon).Data synthesisRecent evidence raises the possibility of effects of low-level MeHg exposure on fetal growth among susceptible subgroups and on infant growth in the first 2 years of life. Low-level effects of MeHg on neuro-logic outcomes may differ by age, sex, and timing of exposure. No clear pattern has been observed for cardio-vascular disease (CVD) risk across populations or for specific CVD end points. For the few studies evaluating immunologic effects associated with MeHg, results have been inconsistent.ConclusionsStudies targeted at identifying potential mechanisms of low-level MeHg effects and characterizing individual susceptibility, sexual dimorphism, and non-linearity in dose response would help guide future prevention, policy, and regulatory efforts surrounding MeHg exposure.

Dataset Information

Exposure to total and methylmercury among pregnant women in Suriname: sources and public health implications.

Publications

Exposure to total and methylmercury among pregnant women in Suriname: sources and public health implications.

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