Stable Mercury Isotopes in Polished Rice (Oryza sativa L.) and Hair from Rice Consumers

Mercury (Hg) isotopic signatures were characterized in polished rice samples from China, U.S., and Indonesia (n = 45). Hg isotopes were also analyzed in paired hair samples for participants from China (n = 21). For the latter, we also quantified the proportion of methylmercury intake through rice (r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2017-06, Vol.51 (11), p.6480-6488
Main Authors: Rothenberg, Sarah E, Yin, Runsheng, Hurley, James P, Krabbenhoft, David P, Ismawati, Yuyun, Hong, Chuan, Donohue, Alexis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bioaccumulation
China
Consumers
Dimethylmercury
Environmental Monitoring
Fish
Food Contamination
Fractionation
Hair
Hair - chemistry
Humans
Indonesia
Isotopes
Meals
Mercury
Mercury (metal)
Mercury isotopes
Mercury Isotopes - analysis
Methylmercury
Methylmercury Compounds - analysis
Oryza - chemistry
Oryza sativa
Rice
Variance analysis
Water pollution effects
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Summary:Mercury (Hg) isotopic signatures were characterized in polished rice samples from China, U.S., and Indonesia (n = 45). Hg isotopes were also analyzed in paired hair samples for participants from China (n = 21). For the latter, we also quantified the proportion of methylmercury intake through rice (range: 31–100%), and the weekly servings of fish meals (range: 0–5.6 servings/weekly). For these participants, 29% (n = 6) never ingested fish, 52% (n = 11) ingested fish < twice/weekly, and 19% (n = 4) ingested fish ≥ twice/weekly. In rice and hair, both mass-dependent fractionation (MDF, reported as δ202Hg) and mass-independent fractionation (MIF, reported as Δ199Hg) of Hg isotopes were observed. Compared to rice, hair δ202Hg values were enriched on average (±1 standard deviation) by 1.9 ± 0.61‰, although the range was wide (range: 0.45‰, 3.0‰). Hair Δ199Hg was significantly inversely associated with %methylmercury intake from rice (Spearman’s rho = −0.61, p < 0.01, n = 21), i.e., as the proportion of methylmercury intake from rice increased, MIF decreased. Additionally, hair Δ199Hg was significantly higher for participants ingesting fish ≥ twice/weekly compared to those who did not ingest fish or ingested fish < twice/weekly (ANOVA, p < 0.05, n = 21); Overall, results suggest that Hg isotopes (especially MIF) in human hair can be used to distinguish methylmercury intake from rice versus fish.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.7b01039