title: Estimating the mercury exposure dose in a population of migratory bird hunters in the St. Lawrence River region, Québec, Canada.
abstract: St. Lawrence River hunters (Québec, Canada) are exposed to the pollutants, especially mercury, that contaminate birds and fish. However, the health risks of this have remained unclear because of a lack of information about the hunters' duck, geese, and sportfish consumption habits. A nutritional survey was set up to characterize waterfowl and sportfish consumption in St. Lawrence River duck hunters and to estimate their daily exposure to mercury. During the winter of 2000, 512 hunters selected from the Canadian Wildlife Service database completed a self-administered questionnaire. Daily exposure to contaminants was measured using data from the Canadian Wildlife Service (waterfowl) and available data on St. Lawrence River sportfish. The annual average consumption was 7.5 meals of ducks and geese and 8.7 meals of sportfish. The daily exposure to mercury related to waterfowl consumption was below the Canadian tolerable daily intake (TDI) of 0.47 microg/kg body wt/day for all participants. The daily mercury intake associated with fish consumption was greater than the TDI in 2 duck hunters. The daily exposure to mercury was higher than the TDI in 4 participants when both waterfowl and fish consumption were combined. Our results suggest that fish consumption (especially freshwater fish) represents the main source of exposure to pollutants in duck hunters.
authors.affiliation: CHUQ-Centre de Recherche du CHUL, Unité de Recherche en Santé Publique, 945, Avenue Wolfe, Sainte-Foy, Qué., Canada. jean-francois.duchesne@crchul.ulaval.ca
authors.forename: J-F Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Duchesne
authors.forename: B Benoît
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Lévesque
authors.forename: Denis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gauvin
authors.forename: Birgit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Braune
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gingras
authors.forename: E Eric
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Dewailly
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004372:Ducks; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005399:Fishes; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D011998:Recreation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D008628:Mercury