title: Seafood consumption and blood mercury concentrations in Jamaican children with and without autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Mercury is a toxic metal shown to have harmful effects on human health. Several studies have reported high blood mercury concentrations as a risk factor for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), while other studies have reported no such association. The goal of this study was to investigate the association between blood mercury concentrations in children and ASDs. Moreover, we investigated the role of seafood consumption in relation to blood mercury concentrations in Jamaican children. Based on data for 65 sex- and age-matched pairs (2-8 years), we used a General Linear Model to test whether there is an association between blood mercury concentrations and ASDs. After controlling for the child's frequency of seafood consumption, maternal age, and parental education, we did not find a significant difference (P = 0.61) between blood mercury concentrations and ASDs. However, in both cases and control groups, children who ate certain types of seafood (i.e., salt water fish, sardine, or mackerel fish) had significantly higher (all P < 0.05) geometric means blood mercury concentration which were about 3.5 times that of children living in the US or Canada. Our findings also indicate that Jamaican children with parents who both had education up to high school are at a higher risk of exposure to mercury compared to children with at least one parent who had education beyond high school. Based on our findings, we recommend additional education to Jamaican parents regarding potential hazards of elevated blood mercury concentrations, and its association with seafood consumption and type of seafood.
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environmental Sciences, The University of Texas School of Public Health at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA. Mohammad.H.Rahbar@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Mohammad H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Rahbar
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samms-Vaughan
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Loveland
authors.forename: Manouchehr
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ardjomand-Hessabi
authors.forename: Zhongxue
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bressler
authors.forename: Sydonnie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shakespeare-Pellington
authors.forename: Megan L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Grove
authors.forename: Kari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bloom
authors.forename: Deborah A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: Gerald C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Lalor
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Boerwinkle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007563:Jamaica / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood*; D017747:Seafood / Q000009:adverse effects; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008628:Mercury