Methylmercury neurotoxicity in Amazonian children downstream from gold mining

Environmental Health Perspectives

Volumn 107, Issue 7, 1999, Pages 587-591

  Grandjean, Philippe ^a,b,e   White, Roberta F ^a,b   Nielsen, Anne ^a   Cleary, David ^c   De Oliveira Santos, Elisabeth C ^d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK   (Denmark)

^b BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE   (United States)

^c IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^d FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF PARÁ   (Brazil)

^e Institute of Public Health Epidemiology   (Denmark)

Author keywords

Environmental pollution; Exposure assessment; Food contamination; Hair analysis; Mercury poisoning; neuropsychological test; Prenatal exposure delayed effects

Indexed keywords

AMALGAM; GOLD; MERCURY; METHYLMERCURY;

ARTICLE; ATTENTION; BRAIN DEVELOPMENT; BRAZIL; DEPTH PERCEPTION; FEMALE; FISH; FOOD CONTAMINATION; HAIR; HUMAN; MAJOR CLINICAL STUDY; MALE; MINING; MOTOR PERFORMANCE; NEUROPSYCHOLOGY; NEUROTOXICITY; POLLUTION; PRIORITY JOURNAL; SCHOOL CHILD;

EID: 0032778967     PISSN: 00916765     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1289/ehp.99107587     Document Type: Article

References (23)

1. Cleary D. Anatomy of the Amazon Gold Rush. London:Macmillan, 1990.
2. Malm O. Gold mining as a source of mercury exposure in the Brazilian Amazon. Environ Res 77:73-78 (1998).
3. Akagi H, Malm O, Kinjo Y, Harada H, Branches FJP, Pfeiffer WC, Kato H. Methylmercury pollution in the Amazon, Brazil. Sci Total Environ 175:85-95 (1995).
4. Malm O, Branches JFP, Akagi H, Castro MB, Pfeiffer WC, Harada M, Bastos WR, Kato H. Mercury and methylmercury in fish and human hair from the Tapajós river basin, Brazil. Sci Total Environ 175:141-150 (1995).
5. Malm O, Guimaraes JRD, Castro MB, Bastos WR, Viana JP, Branches FJP, Silveira EG, Pfeiffer WC. Follow-up of mercury levels in fish, human hair and urine in the Madeira and Tapajós basins, Amazon, Brazil. Water Air Soil Pollut 97:45-51 (1997).
6. Bidone ED, Castilhos ZC, Cid de Souza TM, Lacerda LD. fish contamination and human exposure to mercury in the Tapajós River basin, Pará State, Amazon, Brazil: a screening approach. Bull Environ Contam Toxicol 59:194-201 (1997).
7. Grandjean P, Cardoso B, Guimaraes G. Mercury poisoning [letter]. Lancet 342:991 (1993).
8. Cleary D, Thornton I, Brown N, Kazantzis G, Delves T, Worthington S. Mercury in Brazil. Nature 369:613-614 (1994).
9. International Programme on Chemical Safety. Methylmercury. Environmental Health Criteria 101. Geneva:World Health Organization, 1990.
10. U.S. EPA. Mercury Study Report to Congress. Washington, DC:U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1997.
11. Grandjean P, Weihe P, White RF, Debes F, Araki S, Murata K, Sørensen N, Dahl D, Yokoyama K, Jørgensen PJ. Cognitive deficit in 7-year-old children with prenatal exposure to methylmercury. Neurotoxicol Teratol 19:417-428 (1997).
12. Grandjean P, Weihe P, Nielsen JB. Methylmercury: Significance of intrauterine and postnatal exposures. Clin Chem 40:1395-1400 (1994).
13. Pineau A, Piron M, Boiteau H-L, Etourneau M-J, Guillard O. Determination of total mercury in human hair samples by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry. J Anal Toxicol 14:235-238 (1990).
14. White RF, Debes F, Dahl R, Grandjean P. Development and field testing of a neuropsychological test battery to assess the effects of methylmercury exposure in the Faroe Islands. In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Assessment of Environmental Pollution and Health Effects of Methylmercury, 8-9 October 1993, Kumamoto, Japan. Kumamoto, Japan:Kumamoto University, 1994;127-140.
15. Lezak MD. Neuropsychological Assessment, 3rd ed. Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1995.
16. Wechsler D. Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - III. San Antonio, TX:Psychological Corp., 1991.
17. Thorndike RL, Hagen EP, Sattler JM. Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale (Technical Manual). 4th ed. Chicago:Riverside Publ. Co., 1986.
18. Murata K, Weihe P, Renzoni A, Debes F, Vasconcelos R, Zino F, Araki S, Jørgensen PJ, White RF, Grandjean P. Delayed evoked potentials in Madeiran children exposed to methylmercury from seafood. Neurotoxicol Teratol (in press).
19. Davidson PW, Myers GJ, Cox C, Axtell C, Shamlaye C, Sloane-Reeves J, Cernichiari E, Needham L, Choi A, Wang Y, et al. Effects of prenatal and postnatal methylmercury exposure from fish consumption on neurodevelopment JAMA 280:701-707 (1998).
20. Grandjean P, White RF. Effects of methylmercury exposure on neurodevelopment [letter]. JAMA 281:891 (1999).
21. Goulding M, Smith N, Mahar O. Floods of Fortune: Ecology and Economy along the Amazon. New York:Columbia University Press, 1996.
22. Smith JC, Farris FF. Methyl mercury pharmacokinetics in man: a reevaluation. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 137:245-252 (1996).
23. Boischio AAP, Cernichiari E. Longitudinal hair mercury concentration in riverside mothers along the Upper Madeira River. Environ Res 77:79-83 (1998).