title: Health evaluation of gold miners living in a mercury-contaminated village in Serra Pelada, Pará, Brazil.
abstract: Serra Pelada is a village in the Amazon region of Brazil where most of the inhabitants are former gold miners. Of 235 individuals evaluated, 219 were males (93.19%), 16 were females (6.80%), and the mean age was 52.07 years (standard deviation = 11.57). Most were heavy drinkers (62.44%) and smokers (70.30%), and 85.53% had previously suffered from malaria. Reported symptoms included fatigue (30.60%), irritability (35.62%), excitability (14.16%), insomnia (34.48%), memory loss (61.80%), visual field constriction (4.18%), paresthesia (64.93%), partial hearing loss (16.35%), and gingivitis (18.01%). After an examination of the residents, the authors observed several neurological symptoms: tremors (22.80%), involuntary ocular movement (2.20%), visual field constriction (4.18%), Romberg syndrome (2.33%), involuntary tongue movement (2.19%), dysdiadochokinesia (0.43%), failure of a finger-nose test (10.96%), failure of a knee-heel test (4.84%), inability to complete a tandem march (6.25%), muscular weakness (2.27%), and damage to sensory organs (24.66%). The authors concluded that these neurological changes possibly resulted from mercury toxicity; however, they could not determine a significant correlation with the mercury levels detected in participants' urine.
authors.affiliation: University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. ccorbett@usp.br
authors.forename: Carlos Eduardo Pereira
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.forename: Marcelo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Khouri
authors.forename: André Nathan
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Janos Valery
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Gyuricza
authors.forename: Julieta Franca
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Corbett
authors.forename: Ronaldo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frizzarini
authors.forename: Daniel Ciampi
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: de Araújo Andrade
authors.forename: Quirino
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cordeiro
authors.forename: Andréas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stravogiannis
authors.forename: Celso Alberto
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Chassot
authors.forename: José Luiz Fernandes
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Maria da Conceição
authors.initials: Mda C
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006046:Gold; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020262:Mercury Poisoning, Nervous System / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D008906:Mining; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012424:Rural Population; D012907:Smoking
chemical_list: D006046:Gold