Intake of Mercury From Fish, Lipid Peroxidation, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Coronary, Cardiovascular, and Any Death in Eastern Finnish Men

Salonen, Jukka T.; Seppänen, Kari; Nyyssönen, Kristiina; Korpela, H; Kauhanen, Jussi; Kantola, M.; Tuomilehto, Jaakko; Esterbauer, Hermann; Tatzber, Franz; Salonen, Riitta

doi:10.1161/01.cir.91.3.645

Cited by 488 publications

(400 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…To our knowledge, MeHg has not previously been measured from blood in Finland. However, in a previous Finnish study in a population with fish consumption closer to the national average, hair concentration of Hg was lower than the blood concentration of MeHg found in the present study, when a hair-to-blood ratio of 250:1 was applied (5) .…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

“…In epidemiological studies, fetal exposure to moderate levels of MeHg has been associated with impaired neurological development, as deficits in cognitive, attention, motor and verbal tests (2)(3)(4) . In addition to the neurotoxic effects, high exposure to Hg has been associated with adverse cardiovascular effects among adults (5) . To describe the level of exposure without recognized adverse effects during a lifetime, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set a reference dose (RfD) of 0?1 mg/kg body weight per d (6) , corresponding to a level of 3?5 mg MeHg/l in mother's blood (7) .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Blood concentration of methylmercury in relation to food consumption

Airaksinen

Turunen

Rantakokko

et al. 2010

Public Health Nutr.

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Objective: Dietary fish is the main source of methylmercury (MeHg) for man, and fish consumption has been used as a measure of MeHg exposure. However, other dietary sources of exposure exist and MeHg metabolism may also be modified by nutritional factors. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between blood MeHg concentration and consumption of different foods in a Finnish population with high fish consumption. Design: Blood samples, a detailed FFQ and additional frequency data on fish consumption were collected. MeHg was analysed from whole blood by the isotope dilution method with high-resolution MS. The consumption of different foods was calculated by MeHg quartiles and tested for linear trend. Setting: Finnish southern and south-western coast of the Baltic Sea. Subjects: Two hundred and ninety-nine professional fishermen, their spouses and other family members. Results: Mean (range) blood MeHg concentration was 4?6 (0?21-22) mg/l among men and 2?8 (,0?15-20) mg/l among women. Fish had the strongest positive association with MeHg (P for linear trend ,0?001 among both men and women). Among men, positive associations were also observed for fruit vegetables, wheat and wine. Among women, positive associations were observed for root vegetables, legumes, potato and game, but adjustment for fish consumption attenuated these trends. Conclusions: The study shows that, besides fish, MeHg may have other dietary sources that should be taken into account in risk assessment studies. Due to the observed high blood MeHg concentration, a thorough exposure assessment among the general Finnish population is recommended.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 90%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Blood concentration of methylmercury in relation to food consumption

Airaksinen

Turunen

Rantakokko

et al. 2010

Public Health Nutr.

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“…35 Recent findings in adults suggest that MeHg exposure is associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. 46,47 Although several toxic mechanisms may be involved, these findings in conjunction with the present study suggest that the impact of neurotoxic MeHg effects on autonomic regulation of heart function deserves attention.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Cardiac autonomic activity in methylmercury neurotoxicity: 14-year follow-up of a Faroese birth cohort

Grandjean

Murata

Budtz‐Jørgensen

et al. 2004

The Journal of Pediatrics

198

131

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“…32 Other studies have linked fish consumption and increased methylmercury levels in man, though without overt symptoms of poisoning. 35,36 (Further studies are presently underway.) Other more direct poisonings from methlymercury have arisen owing to its use as a fungicide particularly in Second and Third World countries.…”

Section: Mercury In the Environmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toxicity of mercury

1999

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A ruling by the European Union heralds the demise of those useful clinical instruments, the mercury thermometer and the mercury sphygmomanometer. The new laws have been passed because of worries about mercury poisoning. Yet you can drink metallic mercury and come to no harm. What does it all mean? There are three forms of mercury from a toxicological point of view: inorganic mercury salts; organic mercury compounds; and metallic mercury. Inorganic mercury salts are water soluble, irritate the gut, and cause severe kidney damage. Organic mercury compounds, which are fat soluble, can cross the blood brain barrier and cause neurological damage. Mercury metal poses two dangers. It can be vaporised: the vapour pressure at room temperature is about 100 times the safe amount, so Keywords: mercury; toxicity; thermometer; sphygmomanometer Toxicity of mercuryA new European Union directive 1 will prohibit the use of mercury in sphygmomanometers and clinical thermometers. We review here the toxic effect of mercury and its compounds and discuss their relevance to the environment and to modern medicine.The Chinese used mercury (II) sulphide 1000 years before the birth of Christ as the red dye pigment vermilion. It was used similarly in the GraecoRoman world, with both Hippocrates and Galen recording its toxic effects. Since then its toxicity has become well known in metalworkers, miners, felthat manufacturers, dyers and paint manufacturers. Despite this, mercury has been incorporated into the treatment of man's maladies from ancient times. Its main use has been to treat syphilis, from its first appearance in the West in the 15th century up to World War II. 2 Mercury and its salts have at various times been used as antiseptics, skin ointments, laxatives, diuretics, bowel washouts for the treatment of colorectal cancer, and scabicides. It is still used today as a solvent for the silver-tin amalgams used in dental fillings. So how toxic is mercury? The hazards of mercuryThere are substantial differences in toxicity of elemental mercury metal, inorganic mercury salts, poisoning can occur if mercury metal is spilled into crevices or cracks in the floorboards. Dentists are occasionally poisoned this way. Mercury easily crosses into the brain, and causes tremor, depression, and behavioural disturbances. A second danger from metallic mercury is that it is biotransformed into organic mercury, by bacteria at the bottom of lakes. This can be passed along the food chain and eventually to man. It was this process that led to the Japanese tragedy at Minimata Bay in the late 1950s when over 800 people were poisoned. It is the need to reduce mercury contamination of the environment which should encourage us to cut the usage of metallic mercury. However, much more metallic mercury is spilled as waste by the chemical industry than is dropped on the floor in the clinic.

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Intake of Mercury From Fish, Lipid Peroxidation, and the Risk of Myocardial Infarction and Coronary, Cardiovascular, and Any Death in Eastern Finnish Men

Cited by 488 publications

References 46 publications

Blood concentration of methylmercury in relation to food consumption

Blood concentration of methylmercury in relation to food consumption

Cardiac autonomic activity in methylmercury neurotoxicity: 14-year follow-up of a Faroese birth cohort

Toxicity of mercury

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