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Cited by 200

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Mercury in human brain, blood, muscle and toenails in relation to exposure: an autopsy study

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Björkman, Lars, Lundekvam, Birgitte F, Lægreid, Torgils, Bertelsen, Bjørn I, Morild, Inge, Lilleng, Peer, Lind, Birger, Palm, Brita, Vahter, Marie·2007·Environmental Health
DOI 10.1186/1476-069x-6-30
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: The main forms of mercury (Hg) exposure in the general population are methylmercury (MeHg) from seafood, inorganic mercury (I-Hg) from food, and mercury vapor (Hg0) from dental amalgam restorations. While the distribution of MeHg in the body is described by a one compartment model, the distribution of I-Hg after exposure to elemental mercury is more complex, and there is no biomarker for I-Hg in the brain. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationships between on the one hand MeHg and I-Hg in human brain and other tissues, including blood, and on the other Hg exposure via dental amalgam in a fish-eating population. In addition, the use of blood and toenails as biological indicator media for inorganic and organic mercury (MeHg) in the tissues was evaluated. METHODS: Samples of blood, brain (occipital lobe cortex), pituitary, thyroid, abdominal muscle and toenails were collected at autopsy of 30 deceased individuals, age from 47 to 91 years of age. Concentrations of total-Hg and I-Hg in blood and brain cortex were determined by cold vapor atomic fluorescence spectrometry and total-Hg in other tissues by sector field inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). RESULTS: The median concentrations of MeHg (total-Hg minus I-Hg) and I-Hg in blood were 2.2 and 1.0 microg/L, and in occipital lobe cortex 4 and 5 microg/kg, respectively. There was a significant correlation between MeHg in blood and occipital cortex. Also, total-Hg in toenails correlated with MeHg in both blood and occipital lobe. I-Hg in both blood and occipital cortex, as well as total-Hg in pituitary and thyroid were strongly associated with the number of dental amalgam surfaces at the time of death. CONCLUSION: In a fish-eating population, intake of MeHg via the diet has a marked impact on the MeHg concentration in the brain, while exposure to dental amalgam restorations increases the I-Hg concentrations in the brain. Discrimination between mercury species is necessary to evaluate the impact on Hg in the brain of various sources of exposure, in particular, dental amalgam exposure.

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Metadata

Authors
Björkman, L., Lundekvam, B. F., Lægreid, T., Bertelsen, B. I., Morild, I., Lilleng, P., Lind, B., Palm, B., & Vahter, M.
Venue
Environmental Health
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2007-10-11
Volume
6
Issue
1
Pages
30-30
ISSN
1476-069X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1186/1476-069x-6-30
OpenAlex
W2168194798
Cited by
200
References
1
FWCI
5.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
gold
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (unspecified)

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Mercury in human brain, blood, muscle and toenails in relation to exposure: an autopsy study. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1186/1476-069x-6-30
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Björkman, L., Lundekvam, B. F., Lægreid, T., Bertelsen, B. I., Morild, I., Lilleng, P., Lind, B., Palm, B., & Vahter, M. (2007). Mercury in human brain, blood, muscle and toenails in relation to exposure: an autopsy study. Environmental Health. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-069x-6-30

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