Murata K, Weihe P, Renzoni A, Debes F, Vasconcelos R, Zino F, Araki S, Jørgensen P J, White R F, Grandjean P
Department of Public Health, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1999 Jul-Aug;21(4):343-8. doi: 10.1016/s0892-0362(99)00011-2.
Methylmercury poisoning may cause constriction of visual fields and deafness, especially if exposure occurs prenatally. However, the risks associated with exposure from contaminated seafood is unclear. We examined 149 children attending first grade in a Madeiran fishing community. As maternal dietary habits were relatively unchanged, current maternal hair concentrations were used as indicator of the child's prenatal exposure to methylmercury (geometric average, 9.64 microg/g [48.2 nmol/g]). After adjustment for age and sex, the mean (+/-SD) latency of peak III of the brainstem auditory evoked potentials at 40 Hz was increased by 0.128+/-0.047 ms when maternal hair-mercury concentrations exceeded 10 microg/g (50 nmol/g) (p for association, 0.002), and the increase of the N145 pattern-reversal visual evoked potential latency at 15 minutes of arc was 3.16+/-1.57 ms (p for association, 0.002). No such relationships were seen with the child's own hair-mercury concentration, and other clinical examinations revealed no mercury-associated deficits. Neurophysiological evidence of adverse effects on brain function are relatively independent of confounders, and should be considered in the risk assessment of this seafood pollutant.
甲基汞中毒可能会导致视野缩小和耳聋，尤其是在产前接触的情况下。然而，与食用受污染海产品所带来的接触风险尚不清楚。我们对马德拉岛一个渔业社区的149名一年级儿童进行了检查。由于母亲的饮食习惯相对未变，当前母亲头发中的汞含量被用作儿童产前接触甲基汞的指标（几何平均值为9.64微克/克[48.2纳摩尔/克]）。在对年龄和性别进行校正后，当母亲头发中的汞含量超过10微克/克（50纳摩尔/克）时，40赫兹脑干听觉诱发电位的III波峰平均（±标准差）潜伏期增加了0.128±0.047毫秒（关联p值为0.002），15分视角下N145图形翻转视觉诱发电位潜伏期增加了3.16±1.57毫秒（关联p值为0.002）。在儿童自身头发汞含量方面未发现此类关系，其他临床检查也未发现与汞相关的缺陷。对脑功能产生不良影响的神经生理学证据相对独立于混杂因素，在对这种海产品污染物进行风险评估时应予以考虑。
