title: Public health benefits of hair-mercury analysis and dietary advice in lowering methylmercury exposure in pregnant women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate whether a public health intervention using focused dietary advice combined with a hair-mercury analysis can lower neurotoxic methylmercury exposure among pregnant women without decreasing their overall intake of seafood.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 146 pregnant women were consecutively recruited from the antenatal clinic at a Danish university hospital at their initial ultrasound scan. Dietary advice was provided on avoiding methylmercury exposure from large predatory fish and a hair sample from each participant was analysed for mercury, with the results being communicated shortly thereafter to the women. A dietary questionnaire was filled in. Follow-up three months later included a dietary questionnaire and a repeat hair-mercury analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the follow-up group, 22% of the women had hair-mercury concentrations above a safe limit of 0.58 µg/g at enrolment, decreasing to 8% three months later. Average hair-mercury concentrations decreased by 21%. However, the total seafood intake remained at the same level after three months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased exposure to methylmercury among pregnant women is an important public health concern in Denmark. The observed lowering of hair-mercury concentrations associated with dietary advice corresponds to a substantial public health benefit that probably makes such an intervention highly profitable.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.|2 Odense Patient Data Explorative Network, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Line E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Kirk
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jan S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Jørgensen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
authors.forename: Flemming
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nielsen
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.|4 Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, USA.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Grandjean
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003718:Denmark; D004032:Diet / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004034:Diet Surveys; D037001:Directive Counseling; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005506:Food Contamination; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008628:Mercury / Q000032:analysis*; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011634:Public Health; D017747:Seafood / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds; D008628:Mercury
keywords: Intervention; cost–benefit evaluation; intervention; methylmercury; pregnant women; prenatal exposure; seafood diet