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Exposure to total and methylmercury among pregnant women in Suriname: sources and public health implications

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 31, pages 117–125 (2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Previous research has found that women and children living in rural, interior communities in Suriname have high concentrations of mercury in hair. Freshwater fish from these areas also have high concentrations of mercury. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining operations in parts of the country use elemental mercury to extract gold from soils and sediments. Total mercury and methylmercury concentrations have been determined in hair and blood from pregnant women across the country. Pregnant women from interior communities have significantly higher concentrations of both total and methylmercury in hair (median total mercury in hair 3.64 µg/g) compared with pregnant women from two urban coastal cities, Paramaribo (0.63 µg/g) and Nickerie (0.74 µg/g). Total and methylmercury concentrations in blood and hair are highly correlated (r = 0.986, r = 0.974) with methylmercury making up 86% of the total in blood and 97% of the total in hair. Most women in the interior regions rely heavily on local fish as part of their regular diet, and many live outsides of areas with active ASGM operations. This study demonstrates that diet and fish consumption largely govern mercury exposures in pregnant women in Suriname.

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Fig. 1: Sites where human subjects (pregnant volunteers) have been recruited for the CCREOH biomonitoring and health evaluation research project.
Fig. 2: Total mercury concentrations in hair from pregnant women in the CCREOH study determined by CVAAS.
Fig. 3: Total mercury concentrations in hair from pregnant women in the CCREOH study determined by CVAFS.
Fig. 4: Total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations in blood of pregnant women presented as medians (IQR).

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Acknowledgements

Research reported in this publication was supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers U01TW010087 and U2RTW010104. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Global Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Jeffrey K. Wickliffe & Maureen Y. Lichtveld

  2. Academic Hospital Paramaribo, Scientific Research Center Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname

    C. Wilco Zijlmans & Sigrid MacDonald-Ottevanger

  3. Faculty of Medical Sciences, Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname

    C. Wilco Zijlmans

  4. Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI, 53718, USA

    Martin Shafer & Christa Dahman

  5. Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Emily W. Harville

  6. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, 70112, USA

    Stacy Drury

  7. National Zoological Collection of Suriname/Environmental Research Center (NZCS/CMO), Anton de Kom University of Suriname, Paramaribo, Suriname

    Gwendolyn Landburg & Paul Ouboter

  8. Institute for Neotropical Wildlife and Environmental Studies (NeoWild), Paramaribo, Suriname

    Paul Ouboter

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Wickliffe, J.K., Lichtveld, M.Y., Zijlmans, C.W. et al. Exposure to total and methylmercury among pregnant women in Suriname: sources and public health implications. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 31, 117–125 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-020-0233-3

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