To understand the current Japanese hair mercury levels, we planned a survey of hair mercury among the general populations of different regions in Japan. The present paper, as the first report of the survey, summarized the results obtained in five districts, Minamata, Kumamoto, Tottori, Wakayama and Chiba. Hair samples were collected at beauty salons, barbershops and primary schools in each dist...

Mercury is a potent toxicant of concern to both the general public and occupationally exposed workers (e.g., dentists). Recent studies suggest that several genes mediating the toxicokinetics of mercury are polymorphic in humans and may influence inter-individual variability in mercury accumulation. This work hypothesizes that polymorphisms in key glutathione synthesizing enzyme, glutathione S-t...

Hair mercury levels increase with the amount of fish in the diet and the amount of mercury in the fish species consumed. If hair mercury levels in people throughout the world were monitored by a standard analytical procedure, the results would indicate locations where people's body burden of mercury is high enough to be subclinically unhealthy and where controls on environmental emissions might...

Studies showed that dentists and dental staff working with amalgam are chronically exposed to mercury that accumulates in their bodies in higher levels than those individuals not occupational exposed to mercury. Mercury levels in dental staff averaged at least 2 times that of control subjects in hair, nails, urine and blood. This study aimed to review long-standing mercury monitoring concentrat...

The rapid expansion of the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) industry in developing countries has marginalized the local communities in poverty, and resulted in occupational exposure to mercury via the gold extraction process. We investigated the mercury exposure of the mining workers lived inside and outside the mining area. Based on the occupations of the contributors, the hair sam...

Human mercury contamination can be monitored through hair analysis of mercury's inorganic and organic form as methylmercury (Me-Hg). Hair total mercury and Me-Hg were studied in a Negro River fish-eating population in relation to age, gender, and body mass index (BMI). This riverbank population eats fish at least twice a day and is exposed to high levels of Me-Hg. Total mercury ranged from 1.51...

Hair mercury concentration, as an indicator of mercury body load, was studied in 251 samples of indigenous women and children living in selected areas of the Amazonian region. The mothers or women of child-bearing age, either non-Indians or Indians, and their children were sampled along the Madeira River and in the Kayapó reservation (Fresco River), respectively. Among the sampled individuals t...

The presence of mercury in the environment is widespread and persistent, but the extent of exposure of Pakistanis to mercury is virtually unknown. We collected toenail and scalp hair samples from 158 subjects (83 males and 75 females) residing in Lahore and its suburbs. We also conducted a questionnaire survey and personal interviews to obtain information on demographic factors, lifestyles, and...

Exposure to methyl mercury, a risk factor for neurodevelopmental toxicity, was assessed in U.S. children 1-5 years of age (n = 838) and women 16-49 years of age (n = 1,726) using hair mercury analysis during the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The data are nationally representative and are based on analysis of cross-sectional data for the noninstitutionalize...

otters at the top of the food chain and feeding largely on fish are likely to be especially vulnerable to the effects of bioaccumulating pollutants. this research reports the first data on mercury levels found in hairs of river otters (lutra lutra) from iran. between june and december 2007, we collected museum and recent collections of river otter hair. these samples were collected from several...