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

Overview

Journal Toxics

Date 2024 May 24

PMID 38787145

Authors

Olga Rumiantseva

Viktor Komov

Mikhail Kutuzov

Hicham Zaroual

Ksenia Mizina

Maria Belova

Igor Nikitin

Alla Stolyarova

Dmitry Mashin

Daria Vilkova

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The consumption of fish in food may contain mercury, a harmful element and dangerous chemical detrimental to human health. The purpose of this study was to determine the mercury level in the hair of pregnant women with different fish intakes in their diets. The concentration of total mercury in hair was determined using an atomic absorption spectrometer. In this study, 98 pregnant women were invited to participate (aged from 18 to 48 years). The mean content of mercury in the hair of pregnant women in Northwestern Russia was 0.428 mg/kg (ranging from 0.018 to 3.1 mg/kg). As a result, 22% of women had mercury values above 0.58 mg/kg, which is considered dangerous for the fetus. The hair mercury concentration in a village area was higher than that in a city area (i.e., 0.548 mg/kg and 0.326 mg/kg). Moreover, the maximum level of mercury was noted for a group of pregnant women who consumed more than 5 kg/month of fish and fish products. Furthermore, the consumption of freshwater fish in the diet leads to a higher mercury content in the hair of pregnant women than the consumption of marine fish.

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