Efficacy of Hair Total Mercury Content as a Biomarker of Methylmercury Exposure to Communities in the Area of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Madre de Dios, Peru.

ABSTRACT: Total mercury content (THg) in hair is an accepted biomarker for chronic dietary methylmercury (MeHg) exposure. In artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) communities, the validity of this biomarker is questioned because of the potential for contamination from inorganic mercury. As mining communities may have both inorganic and organic mercury exposures, the efficacy of the hair-THg biomarker needs to be evaluated, particularly as nations begin population exposure assessments under their commitments to the Minamata Convention. We sought to validate the efficacy of hair THg for public health monitoring of MeHg exposures for populations living in ASGM communities. We quantified both THg and MeHg contents in hair from a representative subset of participants (N = 287) in a large, populati

SUBMITTER: Koenigsmark F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8707462 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature