Open AccessMercury in the Umbilical Cord: Implications for Risk Assessment for Minamata Disease.
Author(s) -
Christine Dalgård,
Philippe Grandjean,
Jørgensen Pj,
Pál Weihe
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
environmental health perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.257
H-Index - 282
eISSN - 1552-9924
pISSN - 0091-6765
DOI - 10.1289/ehp.94102548
Subject(s) - methylmercury , umbilical cord , mercury (programming language) , pregnancy , placenta , medicine , ingestion , fetus , physiology , cord blood , mercury exposure , biology , environmental chemistry , chemistry , anatomy , bioaccumulation , biomonitoring , genetics , computer science , programming language
Umbilical cord tissue was obtained from 50 births in the Faroe Islands, where high mercury intake is due to ingestion of pilot whale meat. The mercury concentration correlated significantly with the frequency of maternal whale meat dinners during pregnancy and with mercury concentrations in umbilical cord blood and in maternal hair. The results were compared with published values for mercury in umbilical cord tissue from 12 infants diagnosed with congenital methylmercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan. From the regression coefficients obtained in the Faroese samples, the median umbilical cord mercury concentration of 4.95 nmol/g dry weight in Minamata would correspond to 668 nmol/l cord blood and 114 nmol/g maternal hair. These levels agree well with other evidence of susceptibility of the fetus to increased exposure to methylmercury.