title: Consumption of tomato products is associated with lower blood mercury levels in Inuit preschool children.
abstract: Some evidence suggests that various diet components and nutrients, including vegetables, fruit and food-derived antioxidants, could mitigate contaminant exposure and/or adverse health effects of contaminants. To examine the effect of the consumption of tomato products on blood mercury levels in Inuit preschool children, 155 Inuit children (25.0±9.1months) were recruited from 2006-2008 in Nunavik childcare centers (northern Québec, Canada). Food frequency questionnaires were completed at home and at the childcare center, and total blood mercury concentration was measured by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Multivariate regression analysis was performed after multiple imputation. The median blood concentration of mercury was 9.5nmol/L. Age, duration of breastfeeding, annual consumption frequency of seal meat, and monthly consumption frequency of tomato products were significant predictors of blood mercury levels, whereas annual consumption frequencies of beluga muktuk, walrus, Arctic char, and caribou meat were not. Each time a participant consumed tomato products during the month before the interview was associated with a 4.6% lower blood mercury level (p=0.0005). All other significant predictors in the model were positively associated with blood mercury levels. Further studies should explore interactions between consumption of healthy store-bought foods available in Arctic regions and contaminant exposure.
authors.affiliation: Groupe d'études en nutrition publique, Département des sciences des aliments et de nutrition, Université Laval, Québec (Québec), Canada.
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gagné
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lauzière
authors.forename: Rosanne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blanchet
authors.forename: Carole
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vézina
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vaissière
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ayotte
authors.forename: Huguette
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Turgeon O'Brien
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004032:Diet; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D004930:Inuit; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum; D008297:Male; D008628:Mercury / Q000097:blood*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D017747:Seafood; D046048:Seals, Earless
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D008628:Mercury