Total, methyl and inorganic mercury concentrations in blood and environmental exposure sources in newcomer women in Toronto, Canada

Wiseman, Clare L.S.; Parnia, Abtin; Chakravartty, Dolon; Archbold, Josephine; Copes, Ray; Cole, Donald C.

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2018.11.011

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“… 44 – 46 , 48 In a sample of 211 persons residing in Toronto, newcomer immigrant women had higher concentrations of blood cadmium, 46 lead, 44 and mercury. 45 This set of studies investigated differences among immigrants by region of origin. For blood lead, those from Bangladesh had the highest BLL compared with those from other parts of South Asia and East Asia.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Intersection of Immigrant and Environmental Health: A Scoping Review of Observational Population Exposure and Epidemiologic Studies

Fong

Heo

Lim

et al. 2022

Environ Health Perspect

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Background: Transnational immigration has increased since the 1950s. In countries such as the United States, immigrants now account for of the population. Although differences in health between immigrants and nonimmigrants are well documented, it is unclear how environmental exposures contribute to these disparities. Objectives: We summarized current knowledge comparing immigrants’ and nonimmigrants’ exposure to and health effects of environmental exposures. Methods: We conducted a title and abstract review on articles identified through PubMed and selected those that assessed environmental exposures or health effects separately for immigrants and nonimmigrants. After a full text review, we extracted the main findings from eligible studies and categorized each article as exposure-focused, health-focused, or both. We also noted each study’s exposure of interest, study location, exposure and statistical methods, immigrant and comparison groups, and the intersecting socioeconomic characteristics controlled for. Results: We conducted a title and abstract review on 3,705 articles, a full text review on 84, and extracted findings from 50 studies. There were 43 studies that investigated exposure (e.g., metals, organic compounds, fine particulate matter, hazardous air pollutants) disparities, but only 12 studies that assessed health disparities (e.g., mortality, select morbidities). Multiple studies reported higher exposures in immigrants compared with nonimmigrants. Among immigrants, studies sometimes observed exposure disparities by country of origin and time since immigration. Of the 50 studies, 43 were conducted in North America. Discussion: The environmental health of immigrants remains an understudied area, especially outside of North America. Although most identified studies explored potential exposure disparities, few investigated subsequent differences in health effects. Future research should investigate environmental health disparities of immigrants, especially outside North America. Additional research gaps include the role of immigrants’ country of origin and time since immigration, as well as the combined effects of immigrant status with intersecting socioeconomic characteristics, such as race/ethnicity, income, and education attainment. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP9855

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Intersection of Immigrant and Environmental Health: A Scoping Review of Observational Population Exposure and Epidemiologic Studies

Fong

Heo

Lim

et al. 2022

Environ Health Perspect

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“…LC-ICP-MS can measure low IHg concentrations, while LC-CVAFS can measure higher IHg concentrations. Simultaneous quantitative analysis of MeHg and IHg has been re-ported using LC (or GC) coupled with ICP-MS or using LC (or GC) coupled with CVAFS [9][10][11][12]16,19,20], Table 6). These studies focused on method development and measurements of samples were limited.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies focused on method development and measurements of samples were limited. Wiseman et al [20] analyzed MeHg and IHg concentrations in blood using isotope dilution (ID)-solid-phase microextraction (SPME)-GC-ICP-MS and applied it to recent immigrant women (N = 76). Our method was applied to samples of a cohort survey, and its analytical validity was verified.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of Simultaneous Quantitative Analysis of Methylmercury and Inorganic Mercury in Cord Blood Using LC-ICP-MS and LC-CVAFS: The Pilot Study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

Iwai-Shimada

Kobayashi

Isobe

et al. 2021

Toxics

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Prenatal exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) affects child development after birth. However, many epidemiological studies have evaluated total mercury levels without analyzing speciation. Biomonitoring of MeHg and inorganic mercury (IHg) is essential to reveal each exposure level. In this study, we compared a high-throughput analysis for mercury speciation in blood using liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LC-ICP-MS) and liquid chromatography-cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry (LC-CVAFS). The validated LC-ICP-MS method was applied to 101 maternal blood and 366 cord blood samples in the pilot study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study (JECS). The accuracy of the LC-CVAFS method ranged 90–115% determined by reference material analysis. To evaluate the reliability of 366 cord blood samples, fifty cord blood samples were randomly selected and analyzed using LC-CVAFS. The median (5th–95th percentile) concentrations of MeHg and IHg were 5.4 (1.9–15) and 0.33 (0.12–0.86) ng/mL, respectively, in maternal blood, and 6.3 (2.5–15) and 0.21 (0.08–0.49) ng/mL, respectively, in cord blood. Inter-laboratory comparison showed a relatively good agreement between LC-ICP-MS and LC-CVAFS. The median cord blood:maternal blood ratios of MeHg and IHg were 1.3 and 0.5, respectively. By analyzing speciation, we could focus on the health effects of each chemical form.

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“…This analysis of the training dataset found that the average blood MeHg/THg ratio was 0.75 (Table 2 ). This is similar to reported values: 0.69 to 0.85 from other analyses of NHANES data [ 28 , 30 ]; 0.63 from pregnant women in North Carolina [ 23 ]; 0.52 to 0.88 from populations in Europe [ 24 , 31 – 34 ]; 0.86 from pregnant women in Suriname [ 35 ]; 0.72 to 0.93 from populations in Asia [ 22 , 29 , 36 ]; and 0.91 among newcomers to Canada [ 37 ]. Although the exact reason for the variation across populations is not known, it is possible this is related to differences in demographics or diet.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Total Blood Mercury Predicts Methylmercury Exposure in Fish and Shellfish Consumers

Wells

Kopylev

Nachman

et al. 2021

Biol Trace Elem Res

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Many studies evaluating methylmercury (MeHg) toxicity rely on whole blood total mercury (THg) measurements to estimate MeHg exposure. However, whole blood THg includes other forms of mercury (Hg), such as inorganic Hg, which have different exposure sources and toxicological effects than MeHg. Therefore, estimating the whole blood MeHg/THg ratio is critical to predicting MeHg exposure and, subsequently, efforts to establish an exposure–response relationship for use in risk assessment. A large, representative dataset (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2016) was used to determine the whole blood MeHg/THg ratio among (a) self-reported fish and shellfish consumers, ≥ 15 years of age (the “full adult” population (N = 5268 training dataset; N = 2336 test dataset)) and (b) female fish and shellfish consumers, 15–44 years of age (the “women of reproductive age” population (N = 1285 training dataset; N = 560 test dataset)). Unadjusted and adjusted linear and spline models with direct measurements for both THg and MeHg were evaluated. The mean whole blood MeHg/THg ratio was 0.75 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.74, 0.75). This ratio was significantly higher among those with higher THg concentrations. All models exhibited excellent fit (adjusted R2 from 0.957 to 0.982). Performance was slightly improved in spline versus linear models. For the full adult population and women of reproductive age, the unadjusted spline model predicted whole blood MeHg concentrations of 5.65 µg/L and 5.55 µg/L, respectively, when the THg concentration was 5.80 µg/L. These results suggest that whole blood THg is a good predictor of whole blood MeHg among fish and shellfish consumers.

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Total, methyl and inorganic mercury concentrations in blood and environmental exposure sources in newcomer women in Toronto, Canada

Cited by 18 publications

References 46 publications

The Intersection of Immigrant and Environmental Health: A Scoping Review of Observational Population Exposure and Epidemiologic Studies

The Intersection of Immigrant and Environmental Health: A Scoping Review of Observational Population Exposure and Epidemiologic Studies

Comparison of Simultaneous Quantitative Analysis of Methylmercury and Inorganic Mercury in Cord Blood Using LC-ICP-MS and LC-CVAFS: The Pilot Study of the Japan Environment and Children’s Study

Total Blood Mercury Predicts Methylmercury Exposure in Fish and Shellfish Consumers

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