Current progress on understanding the impact of mercury on human health

Mercury pollution and its impacts on human health is of global concern. The authors of this paper were members of the Plenary Panel on Human Health in the 12th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant held in Korea in June 2015. The Panel was asked by the conference organizers to ad...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental research 2017-01, Vol.152, p.419-433
Main Authors: Ha, Eunhee, Basu, Niladri, Bose-O’Reilly, Stephan, Dórea, José G., McSorley, Emeir, Sakamoto, Mineshi, Chan, Hing Man
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advisory
Critical review
Environmental Exposure
Environmental pollutants
Health
Health Status
Humans
Mercury
Mercury - adverse effects
Mercury - toxicity
Mercury Compounds - adverse effects
Methylmercury
Risk Assessment
Toxicity
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Mercury pollution and its impacts on human health is of global concern. The authors of this paper were members of the Plenary Panel on Human Health in the 12th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant held in Korea in June 2015. The Panel was asked by the conference organizers to address two questions: what is the current understanding of the impacts of mercury exposure on human health and what information is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention in lowering exposure and preventing adverse effects. The authors conducted a critical review of the literature published since January 2012 and discussed the current state-of-knowledge in the following areas: environmental exposure and/or risk assessment; kinetics and biomonitoring; effects on children development; effects on adult general populations; effects on artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM); effects on dental workers; risk of ethylmercury in thimerosal-containing vaccines; interactions with nutrients; genetic determinants and; risk communication and management. Knowledge gaps in each area were identified and recommendations for future research were made. The Panel concluded that more knowledge synthesis efforts are needed to translate the research results into management tools for health professionals and policy makers. •Current Hg related health issues were reviewed.•514 papers in 11 research areas were reviewed.•11 recommendations were made.
ISSN:0013-9351
1096-0953
DOI:10.1016/j.envres.2016.06.042