Blood mercury levels and neurobehavioral function

Details

• Personal Author:
  Bolla K ; Bressler J ; Glass T ; Parsons P ; Schwartz B ; Weil M
• Description:
  CONTEXT: Due to its cardiovascular benefits, fish consumption is widely encouraged among older Americans. However, this fast-growing population is at increased risk of cognitive impairment and may be particularly sensitive to methylmercury, a neurotoxicant found in fish. OBJECTIVE: To describe associations of blood mercury levels with neurobehavioral test scores in an urban adult population. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Cross-sectional analysis to determine the effect of mercury levels on neurobehavior in 474 randomly selected participants in the Baltimore Memory Study, a longitudinal study of cognitive decline involving 1140 Baltimore residents aged 50 to 70 years. We measured total mercury in whole blood samples and used multiple linear regression to examine its associations with neurobehavioral test scores. First-visit data were obtained in 2001-2002. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Twenty scores from 12 neurobehavioral tests. RESULTS: The median blood mercury level was 2.1 microg/L (range, 0-16 microg/L). After adjustment for covariates, increasing blood mercury was associated with worse performance on Rey complex figure delayed recall, a test of visual memory (beta, -0.224; 95% confidence interval, -0.402 to -0.047). However, increasing blood mercury levels were associated with better performance on finger tapping, a test of manual dexterity (beta for dominant hand, 0.351; 95% confidence interval, 0.017-0.686). CONCLUSION: Overall, the data do not provide strong evidence that blood mercury levels are associated with worse neurobehavioral performance in this population of older urban adults. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Aging Animals Diet Epidemiology Hematologic Tests Men Mercury Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Health Poisoning Safety Women

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• Keywords:
  Age-groups Blood-analysis Dietary-effects Humans Mercury-compounds Mercury-poisoning Nervous-system Nervous-system-disorders Neurological-diseases Neurological-system Poisons Psychomotor-disorders Psychomotor-function

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• ISSN:
  0098-7484
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  District of Columbia ; Maryland ; New York ; OSHA Region 2 ; OSHA Region 3
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  293
• Issue:
  15
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038254
• Citation:
  JAMA 2005 Apr; 293(15):1875-1882
• Contact Point Address:
  Megan Weil, MHS, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, 1275 K Street NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005-4006
• Email:
  mweil@jhsph.edu
• CAS Registry Number:
  Mercury (CAS RN 7439-97-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Performing Organization:
  Johns Hopkins University
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of the American Medical Association
• End Date:
  20280630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3654e6febe97932b50edd09378003e1bf4a5a2231a4b80f0045b728079b05c1c057ef1c0b9dfc256ec9079ae6d98b72d1d2b02ef99bdc702663deb35142f0a14
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192024/cdc_192024_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 162.47 KB ]