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Seafood, wine, rice, vegetables, and other food items associated with mercury biomarkers among seafood and non-seafood consumers: NHANES 2011–2012

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 30, pages 504–514 (2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Fish/seafood consumption is a source of mercury; other dietary sources are not well described. This cross-sectional study used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2012 data. Participants self-reported consuming fish/seafood (N = 5427) or not (N = 1770) within the past 30 days. Whole blood total mercury (THg), methylmercury (MeHg), and urinary mercury (UHg) were determined. Diet was assessed using 24 h recall. Adjusted regression models predicted mercury biomarker concentrations with recent food consumption, while controlling for age, sex, education, and race/ethnicity. Geometric mean THg was 0.89 µg/L (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.78, 1.02) (seafood consumers) and 0.31 µg/L (95% CI: 0.28, 0.34) (non-seafood consumers); MeHg and UHg concentrations follow similar patterns. In adjusted regressions among seafood consumers, significant associations were observed between mercury biomarkers with multiple foods, including fish/seafood, wine, rice, vegetables/vegetable oil, liquor, and beans/nuts/soy. Among non-seafood consumers, higher THg was significantly associated with mixed rice dishes, vegetables/vegetable oil, liquor, and approached statistical significance with wine (p < 0.10); higher MeHg was significantly associated with wine and higher UHg was significantly associated with mixed rice dishes. Fish/seafood consumption is the strongest dietary predictor of mercury biomarker concentrations; however, consumption of wine, rice, vegetables/vegetable oil, or liquor may also contribute, especially among non-seafood consumers.

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Code used in data analysis will be available as a Stata do-file on the EPA Science Hub website, https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/epa-sciencehub.

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Acknowledgements

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EMW’s work was supported under a faculty research participation program between the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and the EPA’s National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA/ORD/EPA) as well as the United States National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health under Grant T03OH008615.

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  1. School of Health Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Ellen M. Wells

  2. Department of Public Health, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Ellen M. Wells

  3. National Center for Environmental Assessment, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, USA

    Leonid Kopylev, Rebecca Nachman, Elizabeth G. Radke & Deborah Segal

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Wells, E.M., Kopylev, L., Nachman, R. et al. Seafood, wine, rice, vegetables, and other food items associated with mercury biomarkers among seafood and non-seafood consumers: NHANES 2011–2012. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 30, 504–514 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-020-0206-6

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