The Relationship between Mercury Exposure Indices and Dietary Intake of Fish and Shellfish in Women of Childbearing Age

Women of childbearing age who are susceptible to mercury exposure were studied to understand the relation between mercury intake through fish and shellfish consumption and mercury exposure indices from blood, hair, and urine samples. A total of 711 women of childbearing age from coastal areas with a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-07, Vol.17 (13), p.4907
Main Authors: Seo, Jeong-wook, Kim, Byoung-gwon, Hong, Young-seoub
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Bioaccumulation
Biomarkers
Blood
Blood levels
Calibration
Coastal zone
Coasts
Data collection
Dietary intake
Exposure
Fetuses
Fish
Fish (Food product)
Food
Hair
Health aspects
Mercury
Mercury (Metal)
Methylmercury
Pregnancy
Product safety
Quality standards
Questionnaires
Seafood
Shellfish
Statistical analysis
Studies
Urine
Water pollution effects
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Summary:Women of childbearing age who are susceptible to mercury exposure were studied to understand the relation between mercury intake through fish and shellfish consumption and mercury exposure indices from blood, hair, and urine samples. A total of 711 women of childbearing age from coastal areas with a high concentration of mercury exposure in Korea were studied. Data were collected on demographic characteristics, dietary intake of fish and shellfish using the simple Food Frequency Questionnaire. Mercury concentration was estimated from the collected samples of blood, hair, and urine. The geometric mean of blood methyl mercury concentration of mercury exposure through seafood was 3.06 μg/L for the low tertile, 3.12 μg/L for the middle tertile, and 3.60 μg/L for the high tertile, indicating a clear tendency of blood methyl mercury to increase as the mercury exposure by fish and shellfish intake ascended. For total blood mercury and hair mercury, the middle and high tertiles had higher values than the low. Mercury exposure through fish and shellfish intake is a main factor for an increase of blood methyl mercury concentration in women of childbearing age. More attention needs to be paid to mercury exposure through seafood intake, considering the serious effect mercury concentration has on women of childbearing age.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph17134907