Minamata disease revisited: An update on the acute and chronic manifestations of methyl mercury poisoning

Ekino, Shigeo; Susa, Mari; Ninomiya, Tadashi; Imamura, Keiko; Kitamura, Toshinori

doi:10.1016/j.jns.2007.06.036

Cited by 344 publications

(209 citation statements)

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“…Specific attention should be paid to its organometallic compound, methylmercury, because: i) it has recognized properties as a human neurodevelopmental toxicant (Grandjean and Landrigan, 2006); ii) poisoning incidents with methylmercury have demonstrated the potential of this pollutant as neurotoxicant and its serious health consequences (Castoldi et al, 2008;Ekino et al, 2007;Grandjean et al, 2010;Nakagawa et al, 2002); iii) millions of people are nowadays chronically exposed to this contaminant and there is epidemiological (Marsh et al, 1987; Pinheiro et al, 2007;Yokoo et al, 2003) and experimental (Castoldi et al, 2008;Farina et al, 2009;Vendrell et al, 2007Vendrell et al, , 2010 evidence of the toxic effects of chronic exposure to this metal especially for the nervous system; and iv) previous results from the INMA birth cohort of Valencia (Spain) showed elevated levels of this pollutant in umbilical cord blood, where 70% of newborns had mercury levels above US EPA recommended level, i.e. 5.8 μg/L of MeHg (Ramon et al, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants on human cord blood levels of glutamate

et al. 2014

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Alteration of the glutamatergic system may be one mechanistic pathway. We aimed to determine whether mercury and seven OCs, including PCBs 138, 153, and 180, DDT and DDE, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and beta-hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) influence the cord levels of two excitatory amino acids, glutamate and aspartate. Secondly, we evaluated if this association was mediated by glutamate uptake measured in human placental membranes. The study sample included 40 newborns from a Spanish cohort selected according to cord mercury levels. We determined the content of both amino acids in cord blood samples by means of HPLC and assessed their associations with the contaminants using linear regression analyses, and the effect of the contaminants on glutamate uptake by means of [ 3 H]-aspartate binding in human placenta samples. PCB138, β-HCH, and the sum of the 3 PCBs and seven OCs showed a significant negative association with glutamate levels (decrease of 51, 24, 56 and 54 %, respectively, in glutamate levels for each 10-fold increase in the contaminant concentration). Mercury did not show a significant correlation neither with glutamate nor aspartate levels in cord blood, however a compensatory effect between THg and both PCB138, and 4,4'-DDE was observed. The organo-metallic derivative methylmercury completely inhibited glutamate uptake in placenta while PCB138 and β-HCH partially inhibited it (IC50 values: 4.9 ± 0.8 μM, 14.2± 1.2nM and 6.9± 2.9nM, respectively).We conclude that some environmental toxicants may alter the glutamate content in the umbilical cord blood, which might underlie alterations in human development.Key words: methylmercury, polychlorobiphenyl (PCB), organochlorine pesticides, placenta, umbilical cord blood, glutamate, transport, pollutants. 3 IntroductionSocial and economic development have been mediated by strong industrial growth involving the synthesis, use and release of large numbers of chemicals many of which are potentially harmful to human health and the environment (Li and Macdonald, 2005;Porta et al., 2012).Several of these chemicals, e.g. lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), arsenic and toluene, have been associated to subclinical brain dysfunction and neurodevelopmental disorders such as poorer cognitive and motor development, attention deficit, hyperactivity, and sensory deficits but the underlying processes leading to these effects are still unknown (Grandjean and Landrigan, 2006). Pollutants come from several different sources, move on the environment and eventually accumulate in the food chain. Daily exposure to environmental persistent pollutants results in detectable levels of metals, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides in woman bodies (Woodruff et al., 2011). During pregnancy, the pollutants accumulated by the women can reach the fetus crossing the placenta. Although the placenta regulates the exchange of nutrients and oxygen between mother and fetus and acts as a barrier of many toxicants, it does not provide protection against certain environmental contaminants (Proui...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants on human cord blood levels of glutamate

et al. 2014

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“…The second highest was ocassionally emotional lability 7(9.0%) followed by hearing impairment 3(3.8%). Similar acute neurological disturbances such as phsychiatric symptomatology, visual impairment, hearing impairment, and olfactory and gustatory disturbances also resported as in [4]. Hearing impairment occured due to disturbances in temporal transverse gyrus area in nervous system.…”

Section: B Acute Neurological Disturbancesmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…A structured questionnaires used in this study were modified from [4] and [18]. Before administered to respondents, questionnaires were tested for validity and reliability.…”

Section: Questionnairesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information addressed in the questionnaires are personal identity, occupation, length of time of mercury exposures, acute and chronic neurological disturbances. List of acute and chronic neurological disturbances were extracted from [4] and [15].…”

Section: Questionnairesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 1950, appear cases with severe symptoms include sensory loss, ataxia, blindness, impaired smell and hearing and disequilibrium syndrome. More serious symptoms causing convulsions, paralysis and even death [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neurological Status Disturbances Caused by Mercury Exposures from Artisanal Gold Mining Area in West Aceh, Aceh Province

Sofia

Ibrahim

Risqa

2017

Proceedings of the 1st Public Health International Conference (PHICo 2016)

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Abstract-Artisanal gold mining activities in developing countries are still in concern with environmental and health issues regarding the impact which results from the activities. Amalgamation technique using mercury was commonly applied in extracting gold from the ore. During the process, mercury releases into the environment in its metallic form and mercury vapor. Mercury releases to environment can harm population who work or live near mining area. Mercury is a highly toxic metal and it can penetrate nervous systems as the main target organ. Acute and chronic neurological disturbances can also be experienced by the communities. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between occupation in the mining process, length of time of mercury exposure and neurological status disturbances in communities near artisanal gold mining area in West Aceh, and is known now as Aceh Jaya district, Aceh Province, Indonesia. A cross sectional design was conducted with 78 respondents who lived in villages namely, Paya Seumantok, Panggong, and Curek. Samples were collected by random sampling and respondents were interviewed and given general physical examination. Data were analyzed by Chi-Square test at α = 0.05. The results of this study showed that occupation in mining process has relationship with neurological status disturbances (p=0.004) whereas length of time of mercury exposure showed no relationship to neurological status disturbances (p=0.650). Respondents have experienced neurological disturbances such as headache (48.7%), insomnia (37.2 %), tremor (10.3%), memory loss and mood changes (9.0%), hearing impairment and somatosensory disturbances (3.8%). It can be concluded that efforts for monitoring and evaluation on artisanal gold mining in the areas have to be made by local government and stakeholders to prevent widespread of epidemy on mercury disasters. It is also needed to follow up the neurological status disturbances of the respondents clinically through intensive examination.

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Toxicology and Disasters

Illing¹

2009

General, Applied and Systems Toxicology

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Although disasters may take many forms, they include the toxic consequences of large‐scale exposure to chemicals due to nature, major accident or deliberate terrorism. This chapter first examines some of the definitions associated with major accident hazards. It then classifies and examines major incidents involving toxic chemicals, including those resulting from nature, those resulting from human activity and those resulting from the interaction between nature and human activity. Included under human activity are disasters arising from escapes from industrial plant, from fire, from food and drink and from environmental pollution. Finally disaster prevention and mitigation is examined, with particular reference to the toxicological inputs into land use and emergency planning.

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Minamata disease revisited: An update on the acute and chronic manifestations of methyl mercury poisoning

Cited by 344 publications

References 17 publications

Influence of prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants on human cord blood levels of glutamate

Influence of prenatal exposure to environmental pollutants on human cord blood levels of glutamate

Neurological Status Disturbances Caused by Mercury Exposures from Artisanal Gold Mining Area in West Aceh, Aceh Province

Toxicology and Disasters

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