Evaluation of a Public Health Intervention to Lower Mercury Exposure from Fish Consumption in Bermuda 英文参考文献.docVIP

EvaluationofaPublicHealthInterventiontoLower MercuryExposurefromFishConsumptioninBermuda EricDewailly1*,PhilippeRouja2,MartinForde3,CherylPeek-Ball4,SuzanneCo?te′1,EmmaSmith5, OliviaDrescher1,LyndonRobertson6 1DepartmentofPopulationHealthandEnvironment,ResearchCenterCHUQ,Que′bec,Canada,2DepartmentofConservationServices,GovernmentofBermuda,Flatts, Bermuda, 3Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, St. George’s University, St. George’s, Grenada, W.I, 4Chief Medical Officer, DepartmentofHealth,GovernmentofBermuda,Hamilton,Bermuda,5DepartmentofBiologicalandChemicalSciences,UniversityoftheWestIndies,CaveHill,Barbados, 6WindwardIslandsResearchandEducationFoundation(WINDREF),St.George’sUniversity,St.George’s,Grenada,W.I Abstract Objectives: To assess the efficacy of a public health intervention to reduce blood mercury (Hg) concentration levels in pregnantBermudianwomen. Methods: In 2003, we conducted a study entitled ‘‘Prenatal exposure of the Bermudian Population to Environmental Contaminants’’whichprovidedBermuda’sfirstbaselinedataonprenatalexposuretoseveralenvironmentalcontaminants, includingHg.ThemeanHgconcentrationfrom42healthynewbornsmeasuredinumbilicalcordbloodwas41.3nmol/L, rangingfrom5–160nmol/L.Thisconcentrationwasmuchhigherthanexpected,beingapproximately8timesthegeneral levels found in Canada and the U.S. Furthermore, we estimated that 85% of total Hg measured was in the form of methylmercury(MeHg),indicatingthatseafoodconsumptionwastheprimarysourceofHgexposureduringpregnancyin Bermuda.LocallysourcedseafoodwasidentifiedasthemostsignificantpossiblecontributorysourceofHgexposure.In 2005theauthorsbeganacomplementaryresearchprogrammetostudythelevelsofHginlocalcommercialfishspecies. ComingoutofthisresearchwerespecificlocalfishconsumptionguidelinesissuedbytheDepartmentofHealthadvising pregnant women to avoid those local fish species found to be high in Hg while still encouraging consumption of fish specieshavinglowerHglevels. Results: