title: Mercury exposure in utero and during infancy.
abstract: Mercury in blood samples was speicated from mothers and their infants up to 2 mo after delivery. There were significant correlations between umbilical cord blood and maternal blood for methylmercury (MeHg) and inorganic mercury (I-Hg) levels. The MeHg levels in cord blood were significantly higher than in maternal blood, while I-Hg levels were significantly higher than in maternal blood, while I-Hg levels were about the same. The maternal MeHg and I-Hg levels remained stable during the sampling period, whereas the MeHg concentration in infant blood decreased more than 45% between the 72-h and 2 mo sampling times. The I-Hg levels in infant blood were low at birth, and remained low during the sampling period. The results of the present study do not support I-Hg absorption through milk as a significant source of exposure. However, the number of observations is small, and a larger study is warranted in order to verify the data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Odontology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden. Gunilla-Sandborgh@ofa.ki.se
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sandborgh-Englund
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ask
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Belfrage
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ekstrand
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000737:chemistry; D005399:Fishes; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood* / Q000737:chemistry; D008895:Milk, Human / Q000737:chemistry; D011247:Pregnancy
chemical_list: D008628:Mercury