Mercury biological monitoring

Jenkins, D.W. 1980. Biological monitoring of toxic trace metals. Volume 2. Toxic trace metals in plants and animals of the world. Part II. Mercury. U.S. Environ. Protection Agen. Rep. 600/3-80-091 779-982. 

Occupational exposure to inorganic mercury is quite common, and occurs in the dental and chloralkali industries, as well as in thermometer factories, and in mercury mines. Approximately 70,000 workers in the United States are regularly exposed to mercury [16]. Measurements of mercury in blood and urine are useful in quantifying the magnitude of exposure (see section about biological monitoring below). In most instances there is a linear relationship between ambient air and urine concentration of mercury, where the urine... 

Analytical methods are available to measure mercury in blood, urine, tissue, hair, and breast milk [11]. Biological monitoring of mercury is very useful for assessing exposure as well as risk for health effects [17], but comphcated by the fact that both organic and inorganic forms of mercury occur in the body and can be identified in blood and urine. Mercury concentration in individuals who are not occupationally exposed, and whose fish intake is moderate or low, varies between 0.1 and 7 pg/L. The lower values are found in urine and the higher in blood. Urinary mercury is thought... 

Mason HJ, Hindell P, Williams NR. Biological monitoring and exposure to mercury. Occup Med 2001 51(1) 2-11. 

Reliable evaluation of the potential for human exposure to mercury and various mercury compounds depends in part on the reliability of supporting analytical data from environmental samples and biological specimens. Concentrations of mercury in unpolluted atmospheres and in pristine surface waters are often so low as to be near the limits of detection of current analytical methods even for determining total mercury. In reviewing data on mercury levels monitored or estimated in the environment, it should also be noted that the amount of chemical identified analytically is not necessarily equivalent to the amount that is bioavailable. The analytical methods available for monitoring mercury and various inorganic and organic mercury compounds in a variety of environmental media are discussed in Chapter 6. 

Shaw et al. 1986). Additional information on the biological monitoring of populations living in the vicinity of hazardous waste sites would be helpful in estimating exposure of these populations to mercury compounds. This information is useful for assessing the need to conduct health studies on these populations. 

Cemichiari E, Toribara TY, Liang L, et aL. 1995a. The biological monitoring of mercury in the Seychelles study. Neurotoxicology 16(4) 613-28. 

Clarkson TW, Hursh JB, Sager PR, et al. 1988b. Mercury. In Clarkson TW, Hursh JB, Sager PR, et al. eds. Biological monitoring of toxic metals. New York Plenum Press, 199-246. 

Hansen JC. 1991. Mercury and selenium concentrations in Greenlandic mother-infant blood samples. In Dillon HK, Ho MJ, eds. Biological monitoring of exposure to chemicals Metals. New York, NY John Wiley and Sons, 11-25. 

Hamly M, Seidel S, Rojas P, et al. 1997. Biological monitoring for mercury within a community with soil and fish contamination. Environ Health Perspect 105(4) 424-9. 

MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 44 436 143,1995 Maroni M, Catenacci G Biological monitoring of neurotoxic compounds, in Occupational Neurology and Clinical Neurotoxicology. Edited by Bleecker ML, Hansen JA. Baltimore, MD, Williams Wilkins, 1994, pp 43-83 Marsh DO The neurotoxicity of mercury and lead, in Neurotoxicity of Industrial and Commercial Chemicals, Vol 1. Edited by O Donoghue JL. Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press, 1985, pp 159-169... 

It can be seen from equation (2) that when the constant b approaches 0, no correction is required, i.e., the observed concentration is independent of urinary flow rate. This, however, does not seem to be true for any chemical studied (including, especially, creatinine) (Araki et al., 1990). When b approaches 1, the corrected concentration is proportional to urine flow rate, and correction to relative density is rather accurate. This is the case for mercury (Araki et al., 1990), and nickel in some circumstances (Nieboer et al., 1992). On the other hand, when b approaches 0.67, the b constant for creatinine (Araki et al., 1990), correction to creatinine excretion would seem most appropriate in routine biological monitoring. Manganese and cadmium are candidates for this approach. Chro-... 

Blood is often used for biological monitoring of exposure to Hg(0) vapour and MeHg. The type of compound is determinative for the distribution of mercury between blood cells and plasma. 

MSHA. 1999. Draft Guidelines for Medical SurveiEance Biological Monitoring for Miners Exposed to Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead and Mercury. MSHA Internet home page. See http //www.msha.gov/ S HINFO/TOOLBOX/METALEXP/METALEXP.PDF. 

Include multiple water bodies (clusters of sites) within each monitored geographic area. Within a geographic area, the chosen biological indicators should be sampled in several waterbodies of a given type (i.e., clusters of lakes or streams), because data from several sites will probably be needed to identify the overall trend within the area (Section 4.4). The direction of temporal trends can differ among individual water bodies because of spatio-temporal variation in other factors that influence mercury... 

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