title: Fish consumption and hair mercury levels in women of childbearing age, Martin County, Florida.
abstract: The health effects of mercury in humans are mostly on the developing nervous system. Pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding must be targeted in order to decrease mercury exposure to the populations at highest risk-infants, unborn fetuses, and young children. This purpose of this study is to understand the demographics of fish-consumption patterns among women of childbearing age (including pregnant women) in Martin County, Florida, and to analyze the associations of mercury levels in participants' hair with socio-demographic variables in order to better design prevention messages and campaigns. Mercury concentrations in hair samples of 408 women ages 18-49 were assessed. Data on demographic factors, pregnancy status, fish consumption, and awareness of fish advisories were collected during personal interviews. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. The geometric and arithmetic means of hair mercury concentration were 0.371 and 0.676 µg/g of hair. One-fourth of the respondents had a concentration ≥1 µg/g of hair. Consuming a higher number of fish meals per month, consumption of commercially purchased or locally caught fish higher in mercury, White race and income ≥$75,000 were positively associated with the likelihood of having higher hair mercury levels. This study confirms the existence of a higher overall mean hair mercury level and a higher percentage of women with ≥1 µg/g hair mercury level than those reported at the national level and in other regional studies. This suggests the need for region-specific fish consumption advisories to minimize mercury exposure in humans.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Epidemiology, Florida Department of Health, 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A-08, Tallahassee, FL, 32399, USA.
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Washam
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: DuClos
authors.forename: Serena
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palcic
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pawlowicz
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Blackmore
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D005506:Food Contamination; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D018811:Maternal Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008628:Mercury