INDEXES OF MERCURY CONTAMINATION DURING BREAST-FEEDING IN THE AMAZON BASIN

Mercury pollution, due to gold mining has spread through the Amazon ec osystem reaching the food chain and affecting the indigenous people of the region. We studied the mercury contamination of 47 mothers and in fants and the role of breast feeding in indices of mercury body burden in both groups, by measuring hair and milk Hg levels. Total mercury c oncentration of breast milk ranged from 0.0 to 24.8 (5.85, 5.2 S.D.) n g/g. Calculated levels of mercury exposure of breast fed babies indica ted that 53% were above tolerable daily intakes (0.5 mu g/kg body weig ht) recommended for adults by WHO. Mercury concentration in maternal h air was higher than in hair from breast-fed babies. Correlation analys is showed that mercury hair concentration in infants was significantly affected by maternal mercury contamination during pregnancy, but not during the post-natal breast-feeding period. The mercury concentration in milk was not significantly correlated with maternal or infant's ha ir Hg. A statistically significant correlation was found only between maternal and infant's hair mercury concentration (r = 0.675; P = 0.000 1). (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.