Blood mercury levels rising among U.S. women

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http://www.ktvn.com/Global/story.asp?S=10981098

 

MONDAY, Aug. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A study involving more than 6,000 American

women suggests that blood levels of mercury are accumulating over time, with a

big rise noted over the past decade.

 

Using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National

Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a researcher from the

University of California, Los Angeles, found that while inorganic mercury was

detected in the blood of 2 percent of women aged 18 to 49 in the 1999-2000

NHANES survey, that level rose to 30 percent of women by 2005-2006.

 

" My study found compelling evidence that inorganic mercury deposition within the

human body is a cumulative process, increasing with age and overall in the

population over time, " study author and neuroscience researcher Dan R.. Laks

said in an UCLA news release. " My findings also suggest a rise in risks for

disease associated with mercury over time. "

The findings come on the heels of a widely publicized report, released last week

by the U.S. Geological Survey, which found that 25 percent of fish sampled from

U.S. rivers and streams have unsafe levels of mercury.

 

Environmental sources of mercury include coal-fired electricity plants and

contaminated fish, which tend to accumulate the toxin in their tissues.

According to the news release, chronic mercury exposure has been linked in

studies to a higher risk for autism, mental impairment and neurodegenerative

disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

 

The UCLA study found evidence linking inorganic mercury in the blood to tissues

known to be targets for the toxin, such as the liver, the immune system and the

pituitary gland.

 

Laks also found a connection between levels of the pituitary hormone lutropin

and chronic mercury exposure, which he said might help explain mercury's link to

neurodegenerative disease. Inorganic mercury can also accumulate in the brain

and stay there for years, according to the news release.

Overall, " these results suggest that chronic mercury exposure has reached a

critical level where inorganic mercury deposition within the human body is

accumulating over time, " Laks said. " It is logical to assume that the risks of

associated neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases will rise as well. "

 

The findings are published online in the journal Biometals.

 

More information

 

Find out more about mercury at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

-- E.J. Mundell

SOURCE: Aug. 24, 2009, news release, University of California, Los Angeles

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