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MERCURY EXPOSURE FROM FISH CONSUMPTION WITHIN THE JAPANESE AND KOREAN COMMUNITIES
Citation:
Tsuchiya, A., T. A. HINNERS, T. M. Burbacher, E. M. Faustman, AND K. Marien. MERCURY EXPOSURE FROM FISH CONSUMPTION WITHIN THE JAPANESE AND KOREAN COMMUNITIES. JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. Taylor & Francis, Inc., Philadelphia, PA, 71(15):1019-1031, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
Mercury (Hg) in the environment comes from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Exposure can come from many routes with the most prominent non-occupational source of exposure to Hg coming from the consumption of fish (NRC 2000). Health effects of mercury can vary, with different systems or organs being impacted depending on the type, duration and extent of exposure as well as the form of mercury to which one is exposed (Ratcliffe and Swanson 1996; Sweet and Zelikoff 2001). The most severe health effects observed in humans have occurred from accidental high-level exposure in Japan and Iraq (Bakir et al. 1973; Harada 1995; Kondo 2000). These incidents demonstrated that exposure to mercury, specifically methylmercury (MeHg), resulted in severe developmental and neurological effects.
Description:
Public health guidance pertaining to fish consumption requires that we be cognizant of the health concerns associated with eating contaminated fish and the nutritional benefits obtained from fish consumption. In doing so, a need exists for an improved understanding of the extent of contamination within various fish species consumed by populations of concern and the extent of exposure to contamination by these populations. As part of the Arsenic Mercury Intake Biometric Study involving the Japanese and Korean communities, it was possible to obtain fish intake data, determine mercury (Hg) fish-tissue concentrations for various species consumed, and examine hair for Hg levels of study participants. This longitudinal study (n= 214) included 106 Japanese and 108 Korean women of childbearing age. Hair-Hg levels for the two populations and weight-normalized, species-specific, individual-consumption pattern data that estimated Hg intake levels, were compared with published National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. Sensitivity analyses and population specific probabilistic assessments of exposure were conducted. The estimated Hg intake levels for the Japanese (0.09 μg/kg/day) and Koreans (0.05 μg/kg/day) were above the NHANES estimates (0.02 μg/kg/day) as were the hair-Hg levels (1.23, 0.61, 0.2 ppm, respectively). Results indicate that: (1) there are significant differences between the fish-species-consumption behavior of these two populations; (2) even when fish-consumption rates are equal between two populations, Hg intakes between them can vary significantly; and (3) these population and Hg intake differences present public health challenges when attempting to provide fish consumption guidance.