Efficacy of Hair Total Mercury Content as a Biomarker of Methylmercury Exposure to Communities in the Area of Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining in Madre de Dios, Peru

Faye Koenigsmark, Caren Weinhouse, Axel J. Berky, Ana Maria Morales, Ernesto J. Ortiz, Eric M. Pierce, William K. Pan and Heileen Hsu-Kim
Additional contact information
Faye Koenigsmark: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
Caren Weinhouse: Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA
Axel J. Berky: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Ana Maria Morales: Centro Nacional de Salud Intercultural, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Ministerio de Salud, Cápac Yupanqui 1400-Jesus María, Lima 15027, Peru
Ernesto J. Ortiz: Duke Global Health Innovation Center, Duke University, 310 Blackwell Street, Durham, NC 27701, USA
Eric M. Pierce: Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, USA
William K. Pan: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, 9 Circuit Drive, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Heileen Hsu-Kim: Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 24, 1-16

Abstract: Total mercury content (THg) in hair is an accepted biomarker for chronic dietary methylmercury (MeHg) exposure. In artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) communities, the validity of this biomarker is questioned because of the potential for contamination from inorganic mercury. As mining communities may have both inorganic and organic mercury exposures, the efficacy of the hair-THg biomarker needs to be evaluated, particularly as nations begin population exposure assessments under their commitments to the Minamata Convention. We sought to validate the efficacy of hair THg for public health monitoring of MeHg exposures for populations living in ASGM communities. We quantified both THg and MeHg contents in hair from a representative subset of participants (N = 287) in a large, population-level mercury exposure assessment in the ASGM region in Madre de Dios (MDD), Peru. We compared population MeHg-THg correlations and %MeHg values with demographic variables including community location, sex, occupation, and nativity. We observed that hair MeHg-THg correlations were high (r > 0.7) for all communities, regardless of location or nativity. Specifically, for individuals within ASGM communities, 81% (121 of 150 total) had hair THg predominantly in the form of MeHg (i.e., >66% of THg) and reflective of dietary exposure to mercury. Furthermore, for individuals with hair THg exceeding the U.S. EPA threshold (1.0 ?g/g), 88 out of 106 (83%) had MeHg as the predominant form. As a result, had urine THg solely been used for mercury exposure monitoring, approximately 59% of the ASGM population would have been misclassified as having low mercury exposure. Our results support the use of hair THg for monitoring of MeHg exposure of populations in ASGM settings where alternative biomarkers of MeHg exposure are not feasible.

Keywords: mercury; exposure biomarker; population monitoring; mining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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