Somatosensory Psychophysical Losses in Inhabitants of Riverside Communities of the Tapajos River Basin, Amazon, Brazil: Exposure to Methylmercury Is Possibly Involved.

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this work was to evaluate the somatosensory system of methylmercury-exposed inhabitants living in the communities of the Tapajós river basin by using psychophysical tests and to compare with measurements performed in inhabitants of the Tocantins river basin. We studied 108 subjects from Barreiras and São Luiz do Tapajós, two communities of the Tapajós river basin, State of Pará, Amazon, Brazil, aged 13-53 years old. Mercury analysis was performed in head hair samples weighting 0.1-0.2 g by using atomic absorption spectrometry. Three somatosensory psychophysical tests were performed: tactile sensation threshold, vibration sensation duration, and two-point discrimination. Semmes-Weinstein 20 monofilaments with different diameters were used to test the tactile sensation in the

SUBMITTER: Khoury ED 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4676688 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature