Mercury pollution and its impacts on human health is of global concern. The authors of this paper were members of the Plenary Panel on Human Health in the 12th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant held in Korea in June 2015. The Panel was asked by the conference organizers to address two questions: what is the current understanding of the impacts of mercury exposure on human health and what information is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Minamata Convention in lowering exposure and preventing adverse effects. The authors conducted a critical review of the literature published since January 2012 and discussed the current state-of-knowledge in the following areas: environmental exposure and/or risk assessment; kinetics and biomonitoring; effects on children development; effects on adult general populations; effects on artisanal and small-scale gold miners (ASGM); effects on dental workers; risk of ethylmercury in thimerosal-containing vaccines; interactions with nutrients; genetic determinants and; risk communication and management. Knowledge gaps in each area were identified and recommendations for future research were made. The Panel concluded that more knowledge synthesis efforts are needed to translate the research results into management tools for health professionals and policy makers.

Background: There are increasing concerns over adverse effects of prenatal phthalate exposure on the neurodevelopment of infants.Objectives: Our goal was to explore the association between prenatal di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and dibutyl phthalate exposure and the Mental and Psychomotor Developmental Indices (MDI and PDI, respectively) of the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 6 months, as part of the Mothers and Children’s Environmental Health Study.Methods: Between 2006 and 2009, 460 mother–infant pairs from Seoul, Cheonan, and Ulsan, Korea, participated. Prenatal mono(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate (MEHHP), mono(2-ethyl-5-oxohexyl) phthalate (MEOHP), and mono-n-butyl phthalate (MBP) were measured in one urine sample acquired from each mother during the third trimester of pregnancy. Associations with log-transformed creatinine-corrected phthalate concentrations were estimated using linear regression models adjusted for potential confounders.Results: MDI was inversely associated with the natural log concentrations (micrograms per gram creatinine) of MEHHP [β = –0.97; confidence interval (CI), –1.85 to –0.08] and MEOHP (β = –0.95; CI, –1.87 to –0.03), and PDI was inversely associated with MEHHP (β = –1.20; CI, –2.33 to –0.08). In males, MDI was inversely associated with MEHHP (β = –1.46; CI, –2.70 to –0.22), MEOHP (β = –1.57; CI, –2.87 to –0.28), and MBP (β = –0.93; CI, –1.82 to –0.05); PDI was inversely associated with MEHHP (β = –2.36; CI, –3.94 to –0.79), MEOHP (β = –2.05; CI, –3.71 to –0.39), and MBP (β = –1.25; CI, –2.40 to –0.11). No significant linear associations were observed for females.Conclusions: The results suggest that prenatal exposure to phthalates may be inversely associated with the MDI and PDI of infants, particularly males, at 6 months.

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The MOCEH study is a prospective hospitaland community-based cohort study designed to collect information related to environmental exposures (chemical, biological, nutritional, physical, and psychosocial) during pregnancy and childhood and to examine how exposure to environmental pollutants affects growth, development, and disease. The MOCEH network includes one coordinating center, four local centers responsible for recruiting pregnant women, and four evaluation centers (a nutrition center, biorepository center, neurocognitive development center, and environment assessment center). At the local centers, trained nurses interview the participants to gather information regarding their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, complications related to the current gestation period, health behaviors and environmental factors. These centers also collect samples of blood, placenta, urine, and breast milk. Environmental hygienists measure each participant's level of exposure to indoor and outdoor pollutants during the pre-and postnatal periods. The participants are followed up through delivery and until the child is 5 years of age. The MOCEH study plans to recruit 1,500 pregnant women between 2006 and 2010 and to perform follow-up studies on their children. We expect this study to provide evidence to support the hypothesis that the gestational environment has an effect on the development of diseases during adulthood. We also expect the study resultsThe members of the MOCEH Study Group are listed in the Appendix.

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