Dufthaksdottir Edda, Jacobsen Eva, Eiriksdottir Asa Valgerdur, Magnusdottir Ola Kally, Olafsdottir Kristin, Halldorsson Thorhallur Ingi
Faculty of Food Science and Nutrition, Univeristy of Iceland.
University of Akureyri.
Laeknabladid. 2023;109(3):127-132. doi: 10.17992/lbl.2023.03.733.
To limit exposure to methylmercury several countries have implimented specific advice on fish intake to pregnant women as well a measuring compliance through regular human biomonitoring. Despite fish intake being relatively high in Iceland, human biomonitoring data on mercury is scarce.
We measured mercury in hair from 120 pregnant women recruited in 2021 from the the Reykjavik Capital area. At recruitment, information on fish intake during the past four months was recorded. Hair mercury concentrations were compared to existing health based guidance values and associatons with fish intake was explored.
Mean (standard deviation) mercury concentration in hair was 0.48 μg/g (0.33). All participants had concentrations in hair below 1.8 μg/g, which corresponds to the hair value that the tolerable daily intake set by the European Food Safety Authority is derived from, while 5% had concentrations above 1.1 μg/g, which corresponds to the hair value that the US-EPA reference dose is derived from. Mean mercury concentrations in hair increased in a dose dependent manner (p for trend p<0.001) from 0.25 μg/g among women who consumed fish ≤ 3/month (n=24) and up to 0.80 mg/g among those consuming fish 3-4/ week (n=16). The few (n=3) women who reported to have eaten shark (p<1/month) were all at the higher end of the exposure distribution.
Our results suggest that exposure is generally below the tolerable daily intake set by EFSA but may in some women exceed the reference dose established by the US-EPA.
为了限制甲基汞暴露，一些国家已向孕妇提供了关于鱼类摄入量的具体建议，并通过定期人体生物监测来衡量依从性。尽管冰岛的鱼类摄入量相对较高，但关于汞的人体生物监测数据却很少。
我们测量了2021年从雷克雅未克首都地区招募的120名孕妇头发中的汞含量。在招募时，记录了过去四个月内的鱼类摄入量信息。将头发汞浓度与现有的基于健康的指导值进行比较，并探讨其与鱼类摄入量的关联。
头发中汞的平均（标准差）浓度为0.48μg/g（0.33）。所有参与者头发中的汞浓度均低于1.8μg/g，这一数值是欧洲食品安全局设定的每日可耐受摄入量所依据的头发汞含量值，而5%的参与者头发汞浓度高于1.1μg/g，这一数值是美国环境保护局参考剂量所依据的头发汞含量值。头发汞的平均浓度呈剂量依赖性增加（趋势p<0.001），从每月食用鱼类≤3次的女性中的0.25μg/g（n=24）增加到每周食用鱼类3 - 4次的女性中的0.80mg/g（n=16）。少数（n=3）报告食用过鲨鱼（每月<1次）的女性都处于暴露分布的较高水平。
我们的结果表明，总体暴露水平通常低于欧洲食品安全局设定的每日可耐受摄入量，但在一些女性中可能超过美国环境保护局设定的参考剂量。
