Mercury exposure in mother-children pairs in a seafood eating population: Body burden and related factors

Karatela, Shamshad, Ward, Neil, and Paterson, Janis (2019) Mercury exposure in mother-children pairs in a seafood eating population: Body burden and related factors. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 16 (12). 2238.

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DOI: 10.3390/ijerph16122238

View at Publisher Website: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16122238

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Abstract

Background: Mercury is a neurotoxin that affects neurodevelopment in children; however, its association at the lowest concentration is not clear. The main objective of this study is to measure and evaluate mercury concentrations in mother–child pairs and its association demographics, lifestyle, and dietary factors within the Pacific Island Families living in Auckland, New Zealand.

Methods: Mercury exposure was assessed in a sub-sample of mother–child pairs who were a part of the Pacific Island Families birth cohort, in Auckland, New Zealand at the 6-year phase. Hair samples were collected from both mothers and their children to determine mercury concentrations. Total mercury was measured using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for hair samples. An interviewer-based reliable food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) examined the frequency of seafood by all the participants. Other variables such as sociodemographic (ethnicity and gender), lifestyle factors (income, education, and smoking status) and health outcomes (child behaviour and obesity) were also collected.

Results: In this study, 41% of both mothers and their children had mercury concentrations above the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommended value of 1 μg/g. Most of the participants ate fish 3 or more times a week. A significant correlation was observed between mother and child hair mercury concentrations (Spearman Rho 0.79 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.65, 0.88)).

Conclusions: Mercury levels in children can be affected by their mothers’ levels due to similar eating patterns.


Item ID:	76738
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1660-4601
Keywords:	Hair biomarker, Mercury, Methylmercury, Seafood, Toxic metal
Copyright Information:	© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Date Deposited:	15 Nov 2022 02:12
FoR Codes:	42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4202 Epidemiology > 420203 Environmental epidemiology @ 80% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420699 Public health not elsewhere classified @ 20%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2005 Specific population health (excl. Indigenous health) > 200509 Women's and maternal health @ 70% 19 ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND NATURAL HAZARDS > 1999 Other environmental policy, climate change and natural hazards > 199999 Other environmental policy, climate change and natural hazards not elsewhere classified @ 30%
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