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Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents

Mercury exposure through the consumption of fish and shellfish represents a significant public health concern in the United States. Recent research has demonstrated higher seafood consumption and subsequent increased risk of methylmercury exposure among subpopulations living in coastal areas. The id...

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Autores principales: Schaefer, Adam M., Jensen, Emily L., Bossart, Gregory D., Reif, John S.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4113839/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24972033
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110706709
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author Schaefer, Adam M.
Jensen, Emily L.
Bossart, Gregory D.
Reif, John S.
author_facet Schaefer, Adam M.
Jensen, Emily L.
Bossart, Gregory D.
Reif, John S.
author_sort Schaefer, Adam M.
collection PubMed
description Mercury exposure through the consumption of fish and shellfish represents a significant public health concern in the United States. Recent research has demonstrated higher seafood consumption and subsequent increased risk of methylmercury exposure among subpopulations living in coastal areas. The identification of high concentrations of total mercury in blood and skin among resident Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), a coastal estuary in Florida, alerted us to a potential public health hazard in the contiguous human population. Therefore, we analyzed hair mercury concentrations of residents living along the IRL and ascertained their sources and patterns of seafood consumption. The total mean mercury concentration for 135 residents was 1.53 ± 1.89 µg/g. The concentration of hair mercury among males (2.02 ± 2.38 µg/g) was significantly higher than that for females (0.96 ± 0.74 µg/g) (p < 0.01). Log transformed hair mercury concentration was significantly associated with the frequency of total seafood consumption (p < 0.01). Individuals who reported consuming seafood once a day or more were 3.71 (95% CI 0.84–16.38) times more likely to have a total hair mercury concentration over 1.0 µg/g, which corresponds approximately to the U.S. EPA reference dose, compared to those who consumed seafood once a week or less. Hair mercury concentration was also significantly higher among individuals who obtained all or most of their seafood from local recreational sources (p < 0.01). The elevated human mercury concentrations mirror the elevated concentrations observed in resident dolphins in the same geographical region. The current study is one of the first to apply the concept of a sentinel animal to a contiguous human population.
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spelling pubmed-41138392014-07-29 Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents Schaefer, Adam M. Jensen, Emily L. Bossart, Gregory D. Reif, John S. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Mercury exposure through the consumption of fish and shellfish represents a significant public health concern in the United States. Recent research has demonstrated higher seafood consumption and subsequent increased risk of methylmercury exposure among subpopulations living in coastal areas. The identification of high concentrations of total mercury in blood and skin among resident Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), a coastal estuary in Florida, alerted us to a potential public health hazard in the contiguous human population. Therefore, we analyzed hair mercury concentrations of residents living along the IRL and ascertained their sources and patterns of seafood consumption. The total mean mercury concentration for 135 residents was 1.53 ± 1.89 µg/g. The concentration of hair mercury among males (2.02 ± 2.38 µg/g) was significantly higher than that for females (0.96 ± 0.74 µg/g) (p < 0.01). Log transformed hair mercury concentration was significantly associated with the frequency of total seafood consumption (p < 0.01). Individuals who reported consuming seafood once a day or more were 3.71 (95% CI 0.84–16.38) times more likely to have a total hair mercury concentration over 1.0 µg/g, which corresponds approximately to the U.S. EPA reference dose, compared to those who consumed seafood once a week or less. Hair mercury concentration was also significantly higher among individuals who obtained all or most of their seafood from local recreational sources (p < 0.01). The elevated human mercury concentrations mirror the elevated concentrations observed in resident dolphins in the same geographical region. The current study is one of the first to apply the concept of a sentinel animal to a contiguous human population. MDPI 2014-06-26 2014-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4113839/ /pubmed/24972033 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110706709 Text en © 2014 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 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Schaefer, Adam M.
Jensen, Emily L.
Bossart, Gregory D.
Reif, John S.
Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents
title Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents
title_full Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents
title_fullStr Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents
title_full_unstemmed Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents
title_short Hair Mercury Concentrations and Fish Consumption Patterns in Florida Residents
title_sort hair mercury concentrations and fish consumption patterns in florida residents
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4113839/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24972033
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110706709
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