Mercury in Children: Current State on Exposure through Human Biomonitoring Studies

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) in children has multiple exposure sources and the toxicity of Hg compounds depends on exposure routes, dose, timing of exposure, and developmental stage (be it prenatal or postnatal). Over the last decades, Hg was widely recognized as a threat to the children’s health and there have been acknowledgements at the international level of the need of a global policy intervention—like the Minamata treaty—aimed at reducing or preventing Hg exposure and protecting the child health. National human biomonitoring (HBM) data has demonstrated that low levels of exposure of Hg are still an important health concern for children, which no one country can solve alone. Although independent HBM surveys have provided the basis for the achievements of exposure mitigation in specific contexts, a new paradigm for a coordinated global monitoring of children’s exposure, aimed at a reliable decision-making tool at global level is yet a great challenge for the next future. The objective of the present review is to describe current HBM studies on Hg exposure in children, taking into account the potential pathways of Hg exposure and the actual Hg exposure levels assessed by different biomarkers.

Blood Mercury Levels in Children with Kawasaki Disease and Disease Outcome

“…This value reflected the long-term exposure of mercury, which was relevant to dietary exposure to methylmercury [42]. The mercury concentration in children's urine was 1 µg/L, which was much lower than the health-based guidance values in urine (7 µg/L) [43,44].…”

An Assessment of Health Outcomes and Methylmercury Exposure in Munduruku Indigenous Women of Childbearing Age and Their Children under 2 Years Old

“…However, Gross Motor deficits are less subject to bias. Thus, while infant H-Hg levels are ostensibly lower than those found amongst adult women, it is important to remember the vulnerability of infants to environmental threats, given their immature immune systems and continuous growth [ 91 , 92 ].…”

Concentrations of Lead, Mercury, Arsenic, Cadmium, Manganese, and Aluminum in Blood of Romanian Children Suspected of Having Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Nicolescu et al reported lower arithmetic blood Hg concentrations of children with ADHD in Romania (0.1 μg/L), and none of the children had elevated concentrations [73]. National European Surveys and other studies reported geometric mean blood mercury concentrations for many countries in Europe [86]. Our results from Romania are comparable to results from TD children (8–10 years old) in the Czech Republic in 2008 and German TD children (3–14 years old) during 2003–2006, who have geometric mean blood Hg concentrations of 0.45 µg/L and 0.23 µg/L, respectively.…”