A comparison of individual-level vs. hypothetically pooled mercury biomonitoring data from the Maternal Organics Monitoring Study (MOMS), Alaska, 1999-2012

Biomonitoring for heavy metals is important to assess health risks, especially in Arctic communities where rural residents rely on locally harvested foods. However, laboratory testing for blood contaminants is expensive and might not be sustainable for long-term monitoring. We assessed whether poole...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of circumpolar health 2020-01, Vol.79 (1), p.1726256
Main Authors: Mosites, Emily, Rodriguez, Ernesto, Caudill, Samuel P., Hennessy, Thomas W., Berner, James
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age
Alaska
Arctic
Biological Monitoring - methods
biomonitoring
Coasts
Consortia
Contamination
Cross-Sectional Studies
Disease control
Environmental Exposure - adverse effects
Environmental health
Environmental Pollutants - blood
Female
Food Contamination
Health risk assessment
Humans
Indians, North American
Medical laboratories
mercury
Mercury - blood
Metals
Pollutants
Pregnancy
Rural areas
Surveillance
Trace Elements - blood
Womens health
Young Adult
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Summary:Biomonitoring for heavy metals is important to assess health risks, especially in Arctic communities where rural residents rely on locally harvested foods. However, laboratory testing for blood contaminants is expensive and might not be sustainable for long-term monitoring. We assessed whether pooled specimen biomonitoring could be a part of a plan for blood contaminant surveillance among pregnant women in rural Alaska using existing blood mercury level data from three cross sectional studies of pregnant women. We applied a hypothetical pooled specimen template stratified into 8 demographic groups based on age, coastal or inland residence, and pre-pregnancy weight. The hypothetical geometric mean blood mercury levels were similar to the individual-level geometric means. However, the 95% confidence intervals were much wider for the hypothetical geometric means compared to the true geometric means. Although the variability that resulted from pooling specimens using a small sample made it difficult to compare demographic groups to each other, pooled specimen results could be an accurate reflection of the population burden of mercury contamination in the Arctic in the context of large numbers of biomonitoring samples.
ISSN:2242-3982
1239-9736
2242-3982
DOI:10.1080/22423982.2020.1726256