Global Methylmercury Exposure from Seafood Consumption and Risk of Developmental Neurotoxicity: a Systematic Review

Overview

Journal Bull World Health Organ

Specialty Public Health

Date 2014 Apr 5

PMID 24700993

Citations 71

Authors

Mary C Sheehan

Thomas A Burke

Ana Navas-Acien

Patrick N Breysse

John McGready

Mary A Fox

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To examine biomarkers of methylmercury (MeHg) intake in women and infants from seafood-consuming populations globally and characterize the comparative risk of fetal developmental neurotoxicity.

Methods: A search was conducted of the published literature reporting total mercury (Hg) in hair and blood in women and infants. These biomarkers are validated proxy measures of MeHg, a neurotoxin found primarily in seafood. Average and high-end biomarkers were extracted, stratified by seafood consumption context, and pooled by category. Medians for average and high-end pooled distributions were compared with the reference level established by a joint expert committee of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Findings: Selection criteria were met by 164 studies of women and infants from 43 countries. Pooled average biomarkers suggest an intake of MeHg several times over the FAO/WHO reference in fish-consuming riparians living near small-scale gold mining and well over the reference in consumers of marine mammals in Arctic regions. In coastal regions of south-eastern Asia, the western Pacific and the Mediterranean, average biomarkers approach the reference. Although the two former groups have a higher risk of neurotoxicity than the latter, coastal regions are home to the largest number at risk. High-end biomarkers across all categories indicate MeHg intake is in excess of the reference value.

Conclusion: There is a need for policies to reduce Hg exposure among women and infants and for surveillance in high-risk populations, the majority of which live in low-and middle-income countries.

Citing Articles

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Hair Mercury Levels in Pregnant Women: Fish Consumption as a Determinant of Exposure.

Rumiantseva O, Komov V, Kutuzov M, Zaroual H, Mizina K, Belova M Toxics. 2024; 12(5).

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Risk assessment of some toxic metals in canned fish products retailed in Mansoura, Egypt.

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Risk assessment of toxic residues among some freshwater and marine water fish species.

Hussein M, Morsy N, Mahmoud A, Darwish W, Elabbasy M, Zigo F Front Vet Sci. 2023; 10:1185395.

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Mining-impacted rice paddies select for Archaeal methylators and reveal a putative (Archaeal) regulator of mercury methylation.

Zhang R, Aris-Brosou S, Storck V, Liu J, Abdelhafiz M, Feng X ISME Commun. 2023; 3(1):74.

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