L Cynthia Watson, Jorge L Hurtado-Gonzales, Christopher J Chin, Juliana Persaud
{"title":"Survey of Methylmercury Exposures and Risk Factors Among Indigenous Communities in Guyana, South America.","authors":"L Cynthia Watson, Jorge L Hurtado-Gonzales, Christopher J Chin, Juliana Persaud","doi":"10.5696/2156-9614-10.26.200604","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Gold mining activities in forested areas across Guyana have been a common practice for more than a century. The intensification of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in recent decades caused by global market demand is contributing to the mobilization of mercury into aquatic systems. Indigenous populations who consume high levels of locally sourced fish are greater at risk for methylmercury poisoning from ingestion of contaminated fish.</p><p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The aim of the present study was to investigate the levels of mercury contamination and identify the risk factors associated with hair mercury levels in four indigenous communities in Guyana.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Concentrations of total mercury were measured in hair samples from 99 participants from four indigenous communities in the south Rupununi region in Guyana. The findings of this study were compared with those of previous studies to assess the prevalence of mercury contamination in indigenous communities across Guyana.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Hair mercury levels were found to be above the World Health Organization (WHO) reference value for residents who live close to ASGM activities and who consume high quantities of locally sourced fish. Our results are not only consistent with those obtained in previous studies, but also evidence that mercury poisoning has become a generalized problem for indigenous communities in Guyana.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Fish is the main source of protein for many riverine communities and consumption of mercury-contaminated fish poses a serious health hazard for these vulnerable populations. The situation is especially dire for community members of Parabara with 100% of participants showing elevated (>15 μg*g<sup>-1</sup>) hair mercury levels. It is therefore crucial that Parabara residents be evaluated by relevant health agencies for clinical symptoms related to mercury toxicity.</p><p><strong>Participant consent: </strong>Obtained.</p><p><strong>Ethics approval: </strong>The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Ministry of Public Health, Guyana.</p><p><strong>Competing interests: </strong>The authors declare no competing financial interests.</p>","PeriodicalId":52138,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health and Pollution","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2020-05-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7269323/pdf/","citationCount":"6","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Health and Pollution","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5696/2156-9614-10.26.200604","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2020/6/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 6
Abstract
Background: Gold mining activities in forested areas across Guyana have been a common practice for more than a century. The intensification of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in recent decades caused by global market demand is contributing to the mobilization of mercury into aquatic systems. Indigenous populations who consume high levels of locally sourced fish are greater at risk for methylmercury poisoning from ingestion of contaminated fish.
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to investigate the levels of mercury contamination and identify the risk factors associated with hair mercury levels in four indigenous communities in Guyana.
Methods: Concentrations of total mercury were measured in hair samples from 99 participants from four indigenous communities in the south Rupununi region in Guyana. The findings of this study were compared with those of previous studies to assess the prevalence of mercury contamination in indigenous communities across Guyana.
Results: Hair mercury levels were found to be above the World Health Organization (WHO) reference value for residents who live close to ASGM activities and who consume high quantities of locally sourced fish. Our results are not only consistent with those obtained in previous studies, but also evidence that mercury poisoning has become a generalized problem for indigenous communities in Guyana.
Conclusions: Fish is the main source of protein for many riverine communities and consumption of mercury-contaminated fish poses a serious health hazard for these vulnerable populations. The situation is especially dire for community members of Parabara with 100% of participants showing elevated (>15 μg*g-1) hair mercury levels. It is therefore crucial that Parabara residents be evaluated by relevant health agencies for clinical symptoms related to mercury toxicity.
Participant consent: Obtained.
Ethics approval: The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Ministry of Public Health, Guyana.
Competing interests: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Health and Pollution (JH&P) was initiated with funding from the European Union and World Bank and continues to be a Platinum Open Access Journal. There are no publication or viewing charges. That is, there are no charges to readers or authors. Upon peer-review and acceptance, all articles are made available online. The high-ranking editorial board is comprised of active members who participate in JH&P submissions and editorial policies. The Journal of Health and Pollution welcomes manuscripts based on original research as well as findings from re-interpretation and examination of existing data. JH&P focuses on point source pollution, related health impacts, environmental control and remediation technology. JH&P also has an interest in ambient and indoor pollution. Pollutants of particular interest include heavy metals, pesticides, radionuclides, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), air particulates (PM10 and PM2.5), and other severe and persistent toxins. JH&P emphasizes work relating directly to low and middle-income countries, however relevant work relating to high-income countries will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
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