HAIR METHYLMERCURY LEVELS IN US WOMEN

The scientific community has recently focused its concerns on possible developmental delays in infants exposed to methylmercury via maternal fish consumption. In this study, the authors reported levels of methy lmercury in hair specimens that corresponded to 2 820 monthly seafood consumption diaries recorded by U.S. women of childbearing age. In thi s study, the geometric mean hair methylmercury level for diarists who reported some seafood consumption was 0.36 ppm (one geometric standard deviation [GSD] range = 0.14-0.90 ppm); the corresponding value for d iarists who reported no seafood consumption was 0.24 ppm (one GSD rang e = 0.09-0.62 ppm). Therefore, the mean hair methylmercury level assoc iated with seafood consumption was 0.12 ppm (one GSD range = 0.05-0.32 ppm). The results of this study provide evidence that levels of methy lmercury in the U.S. population are quite low. There is a significant contribution to hair methylmercury from sources other than seafood. It is not likely that maternal hair methylmercury levels in the range fo und in our study would be associated with adverse health effects in ch ildren.