title: Monitoring methylmercury during pregnancy: maternal hair predicts fetal brain exposure.
abstract: Autopsy brains were obtained from infants dying from a variety of causes within a few days of birth in a population exposed to methylmercury in fish. Infant and maternal blood and hair samples were also obtained. The concentration of total mercury in 6 major brain regions were highly correlated with maternal hair levels. This correlation was confirmed by a sequence of comparisons of maternal hair to maternal blood to infant blood and finally to infant brain. The results lend support to the use of maternal hair in assessing fetal exposure to methylmercury in fish-eating populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine, New York 14642, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cernichiari
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: D O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Lapham
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: C F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Shamlaye
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berlin
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Davidson
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Clarkson
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D018811:Maternal Exposure; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis / Q000633:toxicity*; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D008628:Mercury