Int J Occup Environ Health. 2005 Apr-Jun;11(2):132-7.

Mercury levels in urine and hair of children in an Andean gold-mining settlement.

Source

Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, The Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. allen_Counter@harvard.edu

Abstract

This field study investigated mercury (Hg) levels in urine and hair of Andean children of indigenous Saraguro and Metizo gold miners in the Nambija, Ecuador gold mining settlement. Spot samples of urine and hair samples were collected concurrently from 80 children each. Urine samples were used to determine the inorganic Hg burden, while hair samples were used as an index of methylmercury (MeHg) exposure from consumption of Hg contaminated fish. The mean level of Hg in urine (HgU) was 10.9 microg/L, and the mean level in hair (HgH) was 6.0 microg/g. Regression analysis showed a significant association (r = 0.404, p = 0.0007) between matched HgU and HgH samples. Mean HgU and HgU levels tended to be higher for children aged 6-14 years than for a younger group. The wide range of Hg levels in the urine and hair of Andean children of gold miners may place them at risk for neurodevelopmental and learning disorders.

PMID:: 15875888; [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Publication Types, MeSH Terms, Substances

Publication Types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH Terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources

Medical

Mercury - MedlinePlus Health Information

Molecular Biology Databases

Supplemental Content

Save items

Related citations in PubMed

Neurocognitive screening of mercury-exposed children of Andean gold miners. [Int J Occup Environ Health. 2006]
Neurocognitive screening of mercury-exposed children of Andean gold miners.
Counter SA, Buchanan LH, Ortega F. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2006 Jul-Sep; 12(3):209-14.
Elevated blood mercury and neuro-otological observations in children of the Ecuadorian gold mines. [J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2002]
Elevated blood mercury and neuro-otological observations in children of the Ecuadorian gold mines.
Counter SA, Buchanan LH, Ortega F, Laurell G. J Toxicol Environ Health A. 2002 Jan 25; 65(2):149-63.
Neurophysiological anomalies in brainstem responses of mercury-exposed children of Andean gold miners. [J Occup Environ Med. 2003]
Neurophysiological anomalies in brainstem responses of mercury-exposed children of Andean gold miners.
Counter SA. J Occup Environ Med. 2003 Jan; 45(1):87-95.
Review Human mercury exposure and adverse health effects in the Amazon: a review. [Cad Saude Publica. 2008]
Review Human mercury exposure and adverse health effects in the Amazon: a review.
Passos CJ, Mergler D. Cad Saude Publica. 2008; 24 Suppl 4:s503-20.
Review Interpreting hair mercury levels in individual patients. [Ann Clin Lab Sci. 2006]
Review Interpreting hair mercury levels in individual patients.
Nuttall KL. Ann Clin Lab Sci. 2006 Summer; 36(3):248-61.

See reviews... See all...

Cited by 2 PubMed Central articles

Review Mercury exposure and children's health. [Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Hea...]
Review Mercury exposure and children's health.
Bose-O'Reilly S, McCarty KM, Steckling N, Lettmeier B. Curr Probl Pediatr Adolesc Health Care. 2010 Sep; 40(8):186-215.
Review Hair mercury levels in Amazonian populations: spatial distribution and trends. [Int J Health Geogr. 2009]
Review Hair mercury levels in Amazonian populations: spatial distribution and trends.
Barbieri FL, Gardon J. Int J Health Geogr. 2009 Dec 21; 8(1):71. Epub 2009 Dec 21.

Related information

Related Citations
Calculated set of PubMed citations closely related to the selected article(s) retrieved using a word weight algorithm. Related articles are displayed in ranked order from most to least relevant, with the “linked from” citation displayed first.
Compound (MeSH Keyword)
PubChem chemical compound records that are classified under the same Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary as the current articles.
Substance (MeSH Keyword)
PubChem chemical substance (submitted) records that are classified under the same Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) controlled vocabulary as the current articles.
Cited in PMC
Full-text articles in the PubMed Central Database that cite the current articles.

Recent activity

Clear Turn Off Turn On

Mercury levels in urine and hair of children in an Andean gold-mining settlement...
Mercury levels in urine and hair of children in an Andean gold-mining settlement.
Int J Occup Environ Health. 2005 Apr-Jun ;11(2):132-7.

PubMed
Mucosal immunity: implications for vaccine development.
Mucosal immunity: implications for vaccine development.
Immunobiology. 1992 Feb ;184(2-3):157-79.

PubMed
The longitudinal orthokeratology research in children (LORIC) in Hong Kong: a pi...
The longitudinal orthokeratology research in children (LORIC) in Hong Kong: a pilot study on refractive changes and myopic control.
Curr Eye Res. 2005 Jan ;30(1):71-80.

PubMed
Recent advances and future directions in endocrine manipulation of breast cancer...
Recent advances and future directions in endocrine manipulation of breast cancer. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference. July 21-22, 2004. Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Jan 15 ;11(2 Pt 2):861s-960s.

PubMed
Multipoint linkage analysis of the short arm of chromosome 11 in non-insulin dep...
Multipoint linkage analysis of the short arm of chromosome 11 in non-insulin dependent diabetes including maturity onset diabetes of youth.
Hum Genet. 1992 May ;89(2):207-12.

PubMed

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

PubMed

Result Filters

Display Settings:

Send to: