Anwar Muhammad, Ando Tetsuo, Maaz Ahmad, Ghani Sidra, Munir Muhammad, Qureshi Ihtesham-ud-din, Naeem Samina, Tsuji Mayumi, Wakamiya Junji, Nakano Atsuhiro, Akiba Suminori
Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8544, Japan.
Environ Sci. 2007;14(4):167-75.
The presence of mercury in the environment is widespread and persistent, but the extent of exposure of Pakistanis to mercury is virtually unknown. We collected toenail and scalp hair samples from 158 subjects (83 males and 75 females) residing in Lahore and its suburbs. We also conducted a questionnaire survey and personal interviews to obtain information on demographic factors, lifestyles, and socioeconomic factors, among others. Mercury concentration in hair samples was measured by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS). In addition, the concentration of selenium in the toenail and hair samples was determined by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The mean hair mercury concentration was 0.45 ppm (95% CI = 0.34-0.60) and did not show correlation with fish consumption, age, area of origin, or present residence. Mercury concentration was higher (p = 0.021) in females than in males, and was also higher in subjects with 11 or more years of education (p for trend = 0.013). There were 13 subjects with mercury concentration higher than 10 ppm. Most of them were young females and a few were middle-aged males. When the analysis was confined to subjects with mercury concentrations lower than 0.6 ppm, the amount of fish consumed showed correlation with hair mercury concentration with a marginal statistical significance (p = 0.065). The geometric means of selenium in hair and toenails were 0.87 and 1.01 ppm, respectively. Mercury and selenium concentrations in hair showed no correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.057, p = 0.478). This study shows that mercury exposure levels among residents in Lahore and its suburban areas are relatively low, except among outliers, wherein mercury exposure might be brought about by the use of mercury-containing soaps.
环境中汞的存在广泛且持久，但巴基斯坦人汞暴露的程度几乎无人知晓。我们从居住在拉合尔及其郊区的158名受试者（83名男性和75名女性）中采集了脚趾甲和头皮头发样本。我们还进行了问卷调查和个人访谈，以获取有关人口统计学因素、生活方式和社会经济因素等方面的信息。通过冷蒸气原子吸收光谱法（CVAAS）测量头发样本中的汞浓度。此外，通过电感耦合等离子体质谱法（ICP-MS）测定脚趾甲和头发样本中的硒浓度。头发汞的平均浓度为0.45 ppm（95%置信区间=0.34 - 0.60），与鱼类消费量、年龄、原籍地区或现居地均无相关性。女性的汞浓度高于男性（p = 0.021），在受教育年限为11年或以上的受试者中汞浓度也更高（趋势p = 0.013）。有13名受试者的汞浓度高于10 ppm。其中大多数是年轻女性，少数是中年男性。当分析仅限于汞浓度低于0.6 ppm的受试者时，鱼类消费量与头发汞浓度显示出微弱的统计学相关性（p = 0.065）。头发和脚趾甲中硒的几何平均值分别为0.87和1.01 ppm。头发中的汞和硒浓度无相关性（相关系数 = 0.057，p = 0.478）。这项研究表明，拉合尔及其郊区居民的汞暴露水平相对较低，但在一些异常值中除外，其中汞暴露可能是由于使用含汞肥皂所致。
