Segmental hair mercury evaluation of a single family along the upper Madeira basin, Brazilian Amazon.
Mercury pollution (MeHg) up the aquatic food chains in the Amazonian ecosystems has been a major concern in environmental health. Riverside people (ribeirinhos) along the Upper Madeira river are heavy fish eaters. Hair is the best biomarker for MeHg exposure. By assuming a constant hair growth rate, it is possible to evaluate a temporal profile of Hg exposure over the recent defined past. In this paper we present the segmental total hair Hg concentrations from a single family from which some of the 10 persons investigated had high hair Hg concentrations (peak of 339 ppm). We also presented the hair MeHg content from 4 out of the 10 family members investigated. There was a wide variation in total hair Hg concentrations (8 to 339 ppm) among these individuals, who were mostly sharing their meals; there was also a wide variation in total Hg concentrations in the same individual over time (136 to 274 ppm). Hg speciation showed a mean and standard deviation in the MeHg content of 62% and 6%, respectively. The wide variation in total hair Hg concentration strongly indicated that it is possible to mitigate critical Hg exposure levels by conducting a fish advisory.
Boischio
A A
AA
Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana, BA, 44031- 460, Brasil.
Cernichiari
E
E
Henshel
D
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004435:Eating; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D005618:Fresh Water; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*
D015415:Biomarkers; D008628:Mercury