Du Buyun, Feng Xinbin, Li Ping, Yin Runsheng, Yu Ben, Sonke Jeroen E, Guinot Benjamin, Anderson Christopher W N, Maurice Laurence
State Key Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry , Chinese Academy of Sciences , Guiyang 550081 , China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing 100049 , China.
Environ Sci Technol. 2018 May 1;52(9):5407-5416. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.7b05638. Epub 2018 Apr 19.
Mercury (Hg) isotopic compositions in hair and dietary sources from Wanshan (WS) Hg mining area, Guiyang (GY) urban area, and Changshun (CS) rural area were determined to identify the major Hg exposure sources of local residents. Rice and vegetables displayed low δHg and small negative to zero ΔHg, and are isotopically distinguishable from fish which showed relatively higher δHg and positive ΔHg. Distinct isotopic signatures were also observed for human hair from the three areas. Shifts of 2 to 3‰ in δHg between hair and dietary sources confirmed mass dependent fractionation of Hg isotopes occurs during metabolic processes. Near zero ΔHg of hair from WS and CS suggested rice is the major exposure source. Positive ΔHg of hair from GY was likely caused by consumption of fish. A binary mixing model based on ΔHg showed that rice and fish consumption accounted for 59% and 41% of dietary Hg source for GY residents, respectively, whereas rice is the major source for WS and CS residents. The model output was validated by calculation of probable daily intake of Hg. Our study suggests that Hg isotopes can be a useful tracer for quantifying exposure sources and understanding metabolic processes of Hg in humans.
测定了来自万山（WS）汞矿区、贵阳（GY）市区和长顺（CS）农村地区的头发及膳食来源中的汞（Hg）同位素组成，以确定当地居民的主要汞暴露源。大米和蔬菜的δHg值较低，ΔHg值为较小的负值至零，在同位素上可与鱼类区分开来，鱼类的δHg值相对较高，ΔHg值为正值。三个地区的人发也观察到明显的同位素特征。头发与膳食来源之间δHg值有2至3‰的变化，证实汞同位素在代谢过程中发生了质量依赖分馏。WS和CS地区头发的ΔHg值接近零，表明大米是主要的暴露源。GY地区头发的ΔHg值为正值，可能是由于食用鱼类所致。基于ΔHg的二元混合模型表明，大米和鱼类消费分别占GY居民膳食汞源的59%和41%，而大米是WS和CS居民的主要汞源。通过计算汞的每日可能摄入量对模型输出结果进行了验证。我们的研究表明，汞同位素可作为一种有用的示踪剂，用于量化人类的汞暴露源并了解汞在人体内的代谢过程。
