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Estimated intake levels of methylmercury in children, childbearing age and pregnant women in a Mediterranean region, Murcia, Spain

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Abstract

Methylmercury (MeHg) is a bioaccumulable toxin in the trophic chain and a powerful neurotoxin during fetal and child development. Consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish is a principal environmental source of MeHg exposure. This study was designed to assess the Hg and estimated MeHg intake in vulnerable groups of the Murcia region, a Mediterranean part of Spain, compared with international regulations. A validated food frequency questionnaire was used to assess seafood consumptions in 320 children younger than 10 years, 301 women of childbearing age, and 537 pregnant women. Hg concentrations were measured in the most consumed fish products by cold vapor generation–atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The weekly intake of MeHg (μg/kg bw/week) was 2.60 (95% CI = 2.10–3.10) in children 1–5 years, 2.65 (95% CI = 2.26–3.03) in children 6–10 years, 0.98 (95% CI = 0.89–1.07) in women of childbearing age, and 0.88 (95% CI = 0.81–0.95) in pregnant women. The main exposure to MeHg, especially in young children, is related to intake of bluefin tuna and swordfish. Fifty-four percent of children aged 1–10 years, 10% of pregnant women, and 15% of women of childbearing age exceed the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives provisional tolerable weekly intake of MeHg. In the Murcia region, where fish is a central component of the diet, the focus should be on educating vulnerable populations to reorient fish consumption in order to lower the amount of Hg incorporated with the diet as well as to reduce Hg emissions into the environment.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grants from the Paediatric Nutrition Research Award of Murcian Pediatrics Society (2006) financed by Foundation Hero—Spain. The authors would like to thank the Mount Sinai International Exchange Program for Minority Students. Their work is supported by grant MD001452 from the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU-Murcia), Hospital University Virgen de la Arrixaca, El Palmar, CP 30120, Murcia, Spain

    Juan Antonio Ortega-García, Kristina Rodriguez, Marlene Martin, Mari Carmen Sánchez-Alarcon, Juana María Gil-Vázquez & Miguel Felipe Sánchez-Sauco

  2. Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA–CSIC), Valencia, Spain

    Marta Calatayud, Dinoraz Vélez & Vicenta Devesa

  3. Epidemiology and Public Health, Medical School, University of Murcia, Murcia, CIBERESP, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain

    Alberto Manuel Torres Cantero

  4. Murcian Food Safety Agency, General Direction of Public Health, Murcia, Spain

    Consuelo Galindo-Cascales & Blas Alfonso-Marsilla

  5. Department of Pediatrics, Hospital University Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain

    Manuel Sánchez-Solís

  6. Institute of Childhood Nutrition, HERO, Murcia, Spain

    Fernando Romero-Braquehais

Authors
  1. Juan Antonio Ortega-García
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  2. Kristina Rodriguez
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  3. Marta Calatayud
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  4. Marlene Martin
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  5. Dinoraz Vélez
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  6. Vicenta Devesa
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  7. Mari Carmen Sánchez-Alarcon
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  8. Alberto Manuel Torres Cantero
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  9. Consuelo Galindo-Cascales
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  10. Juana María Gil-Vázquez
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  11. Miguel Felipe Sánchez-Sauco
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  12. Manuel Sánchez-Solís
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  13. Blas Alfonso-Marsilla
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  14. Fernando Romero-Braquehais
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Correspondence to Juan Antonio Ortega-García.

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Ortega-García, J.A., Rodriguez, K., Calatayud, M. et al. Estimated intake levels of methylmercury in children, childbearing age and pregnant women in a Mediterranean region, Murcia, Spain. Eur J Pediatr 168, 1075–1080 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0890-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0890-z

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