Ricketts Phylicia, Basu Niladri, Fletcher Horace, Voutchkov Mitko, Bassaw Bharat
Faculty of Science & Technology, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica.
Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Chemosphere. 2016 Dec;164:462-468. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2016.08.054. Epub 2016 Sep 7.
Fish is an essential and traditional element in the diet of most Caribbean people. However it also contains methylmercury which can have severe effects on fetal neurodevelopment. The objective of this study was to assess the fish intake of a selected group of pregnant women from Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago and evaluate prenatal mercury exposure, using the placenta as a biomarker.
Food frequency questionnaires and placental samples were obtained from participating parturients at the time of delivery at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica (N = 100, from November 2012 to March 2013) and the Mt Hope Women's hospital in St Joseph, Trinidad & Tobago (N = 30, in June 2015). The participants were asked to identify the species of fish and the frequency of consumption. Placental samples were analysed for mercury using cold vapour atomic absorption.
The fish consumption preferences for pregnant women, varies based on the marine fish catch production of each country. The main fish species that contributed to the highest estimated methylmercury exposure in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago were cod and shark, respectively. There was a weak association between maternal fish intake and placental mercury concentrations. The mean placental mercury concentrations in Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago were 0.74 ± 0.5 μg/kg and 1.46 ± 0.6 μg/kg, wet weight respectively.
The results from this study showed an influence of Caribbean fish intake preferences on mercury exposure and thus a recommendation for continuous bio-monitoring for public health purposes.
鱼类是大多数加勒比地区居民饮食中不可或缺的传统元素。然而，鱼类也含有甲基汞，它会对胎儿神经发育产生严重影响。本研究的目的是评估来自牙买加和特立尼达和多巴哥的一组选定孕妇的鱼类摄入量，并以胎盘作为生物标志物评估产前汞暴露情况。
在牙买加金斯敦的西印度大学医院（2012年11月至2013年3月，N = 100）和特立尼达和多巴哥圣约瑟夫的霍普山妇女医院（2015年6月，N = 30）分娩时，从参与研究的产妇那里获取食物频率问卷和胎盘样本。参与者被要求识别所食用鱼类的种类和食用频率。使用冷蒸气原子吸收法分析胎盘样本中的汞含量。
孕妇对鱼类的消费偏好因每个国家的海鱼捕捞产量而异。在牙买加和特立尼达和多巴哥，导致估计甲基汞暴露量最高的主要鱼类分别是鳕鱼和鲨鱼。孕妇鱼类摄入量与胎盘汞浓度之间存在微弱关联。牙买加和特立尼达和多巴哥的胎盘汞平均浓度湿重分别为0.74±0.5μg/kg和1.46±0.6μg/kg。
本研究结果表明加勒比地区鱼类消费偏好对汞暴露有影响，因此建议出于公共卫生目的进行持续的生物监测。
