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Adlard B, Davis K, Liang CL, S Curren M, Rodríguez-Dozal S, Riojas-Rodríguez H, Hernández-Ávila M, Foster W, Needham L, Wong LY, Weber JP, Marro L, Leech T, Van Oostdam J. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and metals in primiparous women: a comparison from Canada and Mexico. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2014; 500-501:302-13. [PMID: 25233368 PMCID: PMC4825328 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.08.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2013] [Revised: 07/30/2014] [Accepted: 08/21/2014] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Under the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) and its Sound Management of Chemicals (SMOC) program, a tri-national human contaminant monitoring initiative was completed to provide baseline exposure information for several environmental contaminants in Canada, Mexico and the United States (U.S). Blood samples were collected from primiparous women in Canada and Mexico, and were analysed for a suite of environmental contaminants including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene(p,p'-DDE),beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH), mercury and lead. A multiple stepwise linear regression analysis was conducted using data from Canadian and Mexican primiparous mothers, adjusting for ethnicity group, age, pre-pregnancy BMI, years at current city and ever-smoking status. Concentrations of p,p'-DDE, β-HCH, and lead were found to be higher among Mexican participants; however, concentrations of most PCBs among Mexican participants were similar to Canadian primiparous women after adjusting for covariates. Concentrations of total mercury were generally higher among Mexican primiparous women although this difference was smaller as age increased. This initial dataset can be used to determine priorities for future activities and to track progress in the management of the selected chemicals, both domestically and on a broader cooperative basis within North America.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bryan Adlard
- Chemicals Surveillance Bureau, Health Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, 269 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0K9.
| | - Karelyn Davis
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, 50 Colombine Driveway, Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0K9.
| | - Chun Lei Liang
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, 50 Colombine Driveway, Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0K9.
| | - Meredith S Curren
- Chemicals Surveillance Bureau, Health Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, 269 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0K9.
| | - Sandra Rodríguez-Dozal
- Environmental Health Department, Center for Population Heath Research, National Institute of Public Health. Av. Universidad #655, CP 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
| | - Horacio Riojas-Rodríguez
- Environmental Health Department, Center for Population Heath Research, National Institute of Public Health. Av. Universidad #655, CP 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
| | - Mauricio Hernández-Ávila
- Office of the Director, National Institute of Public Health. Av. Universidad #655, CP 62100 Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.
| | - Warren Foster
- Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, McMaster University, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, Canada L8N 3Z5.
| | - Larry Needham
- National Center of Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Lee-Yang Wong
- National Center of Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA.
| | - Jean-Philippe Weber
- Institut national de santé publique, 945 Avenue Wolfe, Québec, QC, Canada G1V 5B3.
| | - Leonora Marro
- Environmental Health Science and Research Bureau, Health Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, 50 Colombine Driveway, Tunney's Pasture, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0K9.
| | - Tara Leech
- Chemicals Surveillance Bureau, Health Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, Health Canada, 269 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0K9.
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Basu N, Tutino R, Zhang Z, Cantonwine DE, Goodrich JM, Somers EC, Rodriguez L, Schnaas L, Solano M, Mercado A, Peterson K, Sánchez BN, Hernández-Avila M, Hu H, Maria Téllez-Rojo M. Mercury levels in pregnant women, children, and seafood from Mexico City. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH 2014; 135:63-9. [PMID: 25262076 PMCID: PMC4262596 DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2014.08.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2014] [Revised: 08/09/2014] [Accepted: 08/13/2014] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Mercury is a global contaminant of concern though little is known about exposures in México. OBJECTIVES To characterize mercury levels in pregnant women, children, and commonly consumed seafood samples. METHODS Use resources of the Early Life Exposures in Mexico to Environmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) birth cohorts to measure total mercury levels in archived samples from 348 pregnant women (blood from three trimesters and cord blood), 825 offspring (blood, hair, and urine) and their mothers (hair), and 91 seafood and canned tuna samples from Mexico City. RESULTS Maternal blood mercury levels correlated across three trimesters and averaged 3.4 μg/L. Cord blood mercury averaged 4.7 μg/L and correlated with maternal blood from trimester 3 (but not trimesters 1 and 2). In children, blood, hair and urine mercury levels correlated and averaged 1.8 μg/L, 0.6 μg/g, and 0.9 μg/L, respectively. Hair mercury was 0.5 μg/g in mothers and correlated with child's hair. Mean consumption of canned tuna, fresh fish, canned sardine, and shellfish was 3.1, 2.2, 0.5, and 1.0 times per month respectively in pregnant women. Mean mercury content in 7 of 23 seafood species and 5 of 9 canned tuna brands purchased exceeded the U.S. EPA guidance value of 0.3 μg/g. CONCLUSIONS Mercury exposures in pregnant women and children from Mexico City, via biomarker studies, are generally 3-5 times greater than values reported in population surveys from the U.S., Canada, and elsewhere. In particular, mercury levels in 29-39% of the maternal participants exceeded the biomonitoring guideline associated with the U.S. EPA reference dose for mercury.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niladri Basu
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H9X 2T9.
| | - Rebecca Tutino
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Zhenzhen Zhang
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - David E Cantonwine
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Brigham & Women׳s Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jaclyn M Goodrich
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Emily C Somers
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lauren Rodriguez
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Lourdes Schnaas
- Division of Public Health, National Institute of Perinatology, Mexico, D.F., Mexico
| | - Maritsa Solano
- Division of Statistics, Center for Evaluation Research and Surveys, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
| | - Adriana Mercado
- Division of Statistics, Center for Evaluation Research and Surveys, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
| | - Karen Peterson
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Brisa N Sánchez
- Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | | | - Howard Hu
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Martha Maria Téllez-Rojo
- Division of Statistics, Center for Evaluation Research and Surveys, National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico
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Murata K, Yoshida M, Sakamoto M, Iwai-Shimada M, Yaginuma-Sakurai K, Tatsuta N, Iwata T, Karita K, Nakai K. Recent evidence from epidemiological studies on methylmercury toxicity. Nihon Eiseigaku Zasshi 2011; 66:682-95. [PMID: 21996768 DOI: 10.1265/jjh.66.682] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
More than fifty years have passed since the outbreak of Minamata disease, and large-scale methylmercury poisoning due to industrial effluents or methylmercury-containing fungicide intoxication has scarcely happened in developed countries. On the other hand, widespread environmental mercury contamination has occurred in gold and mercury mining areas of developing countries. In this article, we provided an overview of recent studies addressing human health effects of methylmercury, which we searched using the PubMed of the US National Library of Medicine. The following suggestions were obtained for low-level methylmercury exposure: (1) In recent years, the proportion of human studies addressing methylmercury has tended to decrease. (2) Prenatal exposure to methylmercury through fish intake, even at low levels, adversely affects child development after adjusting for polychlorinated biphenyls and maternal fish intake during pregnancy, whereas maternal seafood intake has some benefits. (3) Long-term methylmercury exposure through consumption of fish such as bigeye tuna and swordfish may pose a potential risk of cardiac events involving sympathovagal imbalance. (4) In measuring methylmercury levels in preserved umbilical cord collected from inhabitants born in Minamata areas between 1945 and 1989, the elevated concentrations (≥1 mg/g) were observed mainly in inhabitants born between 1947 and 1968, and the peak coincided with the peak of acetaldehyde production in Minamata. (5) Since some developing countries appear to be in similar situations to Japan in the past, attention should be directed toward early recognition of a risky agent and precautions should be taken against it.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katsuyuki Murata
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Akita University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
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Acosta-Saavedra LC, Moreno ME, Rodríguez-Kessler T, Luna A, Arias-Salvatierra D, Gómez R, Calderon-Aranda ES. Environmental exposure to lead and mercury in Mexican children: a real health problem. Toxicol Mech Methods 2011; 21:656-66. [PMID: 21981766 DOI: 10.3109/15376516.2011.620997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Exposure to lead (Pb) and mercury (Hg) remains a world public health problem, particularly for young children in developing countries. In Mexico, the main sources of exposure to Pb and Hg are wastes from human activities that increase the natural sources of these metals. Pb and Hg are highly toxic during development and maturation periods of the central nervous system (CNS); these effects are associated with the risk for neurodegenerative diseases. Mexico has numerous exposure sources to Pb and Hg; nevertheless, information on exposure in children is limited, particularly for Hg. Therefore, we conducted a review of the studies performed in children exposed to Pb and Hg. Data presented support that an important proportion of Mexican children have Pb levels above values associated with dangerous effects. On the other hand, studies on Hg-exposure are scarce, so we need more studies to estimate the magnitude of the problem and to determine exposure levels in Mexican children. Available data support the urgent need for coordinated actions among researchers, and health and environmental government authorities to implement education and nutritional campaigns, as well as to decrease exposure and effects of Pb and Hg. In addition, there must be a priority for the implementation of educational campaigns directed to the general population, but with emphasis in parents, education staff and health care providers to decrease both the risk of exposure of children to Pb and Hg and the effects of the exposure to these metals.
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