A new scientific report finds that humans and marine ecosystems around the world are contaminated with mercury and that mercury levels in humans and fish regularly exceed health advisory guidelines.
Background:The report, a collaboration between IPEN and Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI), highlights the urgent need for an overall reduction in mercury emissions when government delegates convene this week in Geneva in their final negotiating session to establish an international mercury treaty – the first global treaty on the environment in more than a decade by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The new report:The report, Global Mercury Hotspots, “brings together new data on mercury concentrations in fish and human hair samples and identifies, for the first time, a set of global biological hotspots where elevated levels of mercury are sufficient to pose serious threats to both ecosystems and human health,” said David C. Evers, Ph.D., BRI’s executive director and chief scientist. The report was a joint collaboration between IPEN, a global network of public interest organizations, and the scientific research team of BRI.
Key findings from the report:
- Mercury contamination is ubiquitous in marine and freshwater systems around the world.
- Biological mercury hotspots are globally common and are related to a variety of human activities, such as chlor-alkali facilities, contaminated sites, coal-fired power plants, artisanal small-scale gold mining, mixed-used chemical industry sites and other sources.
- Fish samples from around the world regularly demonstrate mercury concentrations exceeding U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) human health advisory guidelines. In the study, from 43 up to 100 percent of fish samples from 9 countries exceeded safe consumption of one fish meal of 170 grams (6 ounces) per month. Mercury concentrations in fish from sites in Japan and Uruguay were so high that no consumption is recommended.
- More than 82 percent of human hair samples from 8 countries exceeded U.S EPA reference dose levels of 1.0 ppm. In Thailand, 20 out of 20 individuals living near an industrial site had unsafe levels; 19 out of 20 Indonesians at a gold mining site exceeded EPA recommended levels; and 18 out of 20 individuals in Tokyo, Japan had similarly high levels.
Public interest groups such as IPEN are concerned that current proposed treaty measures are not sufficient to prevent continued health impacts from mercury or reduce global levels of mercury in fish. Concluding negotiations on the mercury treaty will take place on January 13 to 18, 2013 in Geneva, Switzerland.
“We found that fish and human hair from around the world regularly exceeded health advisory levels,” said Joe DiGangi, senior science and technical advisor with IPEN. “The results demonstrate the need for a mercury treaty that mandates true reductions of mercury emissions – not just to air but to land and water as well. Mercury is a large and serious global threat to human health that requires a robust and ambitious global response.”
There are also growing objections to naming the treaty, the Minamata Convention, as proposed by a former Japanese prime minister, and holding the treaty signing ceremony in Minamata, Japan, a site where mercury contamination has devastated the community’s human and animal population for decades. As currently proposed, the treaty does not contain any obligations to identify or clean up contaminated sites, does not require polluters to pay for health damages or environmental clean up, or provide for protection from similar disasters occurring anywhere in the world. Varying objections to the name have been raised by some government delegates, organizations representing victims of the tragedy, and the Minamata City Council.
Human activities such as burning coal, mining and refining metal ores, and the manufacture of cement release mercury into the environment. Large intentional uses of mercury today include small-scale gold mining and vinyl chloride monomer production. Coal combustion is also a significant contributor to atmospheric mercury emissions and subsequent global deposition. Much of the mercury produced and used eventually volatizes into the atmosphere and travels around the globe, eventually falling back to the earth or ocean.
When mercury falls into the ocean and waterways, microorganisms transform it into an especially toxic form of mercury, methylmercury, which then becomes part of the food chain. Methylmercury is readily absorbed by the body and people are exposed primarily through the consumption of fish. Many national and international health organizations recognize mercury in fish as a threat to human health, livelihoods, and the environment. The dangers of mercury poisoning have been known for centuries. Exposure to high levels of mercury can permanently damage the brain and kidneys. Harmful effects are also passed from a mother to her developing fetus and can result in brain damage, mental retardation, blindness, seizures and an inability to speak.
Source:
Biodiversity Research Institute
The original report:
BRI/IPEN: Global Mercury Hotspots, BRI/IPEN, January 2013
Related Reports BRI
- Report: Mercury in the Global Environment: Patterns of Global Seafood
Mercury Concentrations and their Relationship with Human Health Zero Mercury Working Group - Report: Mercury Contamination, Exposures and Risk: A New Global Picture Emerges, December 2012 Zero
Mercury Working Group - Report: An Overview of Epidemiological Evidence
on the Effects of Methylmercury on Brain Development, and A Rationale
for a Lower Definition of Tolerable Exposure, December 2012 Related studies: K. Ashe,
Elevated Mercury Concentrations in Humans of Madre de Dios, Peru, PLoS ONE, 7/3 (2012) e33305.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033305 Chang-Hun You, Byoung-Gwon Kim, Eun-Mi Jo, Gyeong-Yeon Kim, Byeng-Chul Yu, Myeong-Gon Hong, Dae-Seon Kim, Young-Seoub Hong,
The relationship between the fish consumption and blood total/methyl-mercury concentration of costal area in Korea, NeuroToxicology, 33 (2012) 676–682.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuro.2012.04.005 Luciana A. Farias, Déborah I.T. Fávaro, Artemiza Pessoa, Jaime P.L. Aguiar, Lúcia K.O. Yuyama,
Mercury and methylmercury concentration assessment in children’s hair from Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil, Acta Amazon., 42(2) 2012: 279 - 286.
doi: 10.1590/S0044-59672012000200015 Daniel Peplow, Sarah Augustine,
Community-Led Assessment of Risk fromExposure toMercury by Native AmerindianWayana in Southeast Suriname, J. Environ. Public Health, 2012 (2012) ID 674596.
doi:10.1155/2012/674596 Sergi Diez, Jose M. Esbri, Aurelio Tobias, Pablo Higueras, Alba Martinez-Coronado,
Determinants of exposure to mercury in hair from inhabitants of the largest mercury mine in the world, Chemosphere, 84 (2011) 571–577.
doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.03.065 A. Miklavcic, P. Cuderman, D.Mazej, J. Snoj Tratnik, M. Krsnik, P. Planinsek, J. Osredkar, M. Horvat,
Biomarkers of low-level mercury exposure through fish consumption in pregnant and lactating Slovenian women, Environ. Res., 111 (2011) 1201–1207.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2011.07.006 Herman Gibb, Cary Haver, Kostj Kozlov, Jose A. Centeno, Vera Jurgenson, Allan Kolker, Kathryn M. Conko, Edward R. Landa & Hanna Xu,
Biomarkers of Mercury Exposure in Two Eastern Ukraine Cities, J. Occup. Environ. Hyg., 8/4 (2011) 187.193.
doi: 10.1080/15459624.2011.556984 Wenjing Tian, Grace M. Egeland, Isaac Sobol, Hing Man Chan,
Mercury hair concentrations and dietary exposure among Inuit preschool children in Nunavut, Canada, Environment International 37 (2011) 42–48.
doi:10.1016/j.envint.2010.05.017 Ping Li, Xinbin Feng, Lihai Shang, Guangle Qiu, Bo Meng, Hua Zhang, Yanna Guo, Peng Liang,
Human co-exposure to mercury vapor and methylmercury in artisanal mercury mining areas, Guizhou,China, Ecotoxicol. Environ. Safety, 74(2011)473–479.
doi:10.1016/j.ecoenv.2010.10.030 Marie Lynn Miranda, Sharon Edwards, Pamela J. Maxson,
Mercury Levels in an Urban Pregnant Population in Durham County, North Carolina, Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 8 (2011) 698-712;
doi:10.3390/ijerph8030698 Andrea Garcia Bravo, Jean-Luc Loizeau, Sylvain Bouchet, Alexandre Richard, Jean Francois Rubin, Viorel-Gheorge Ungureanu, David Amouroux, Janusz Dominik,
Mercury human exposure through fish consumption in a reservoir contaminated by a chlor-alkali plant: Babeni reservoir (Romania), Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res., 17 (2010) 1422–1432.
DOI 10.1007/s11356-010-0328-9
Elsie Sunderland, Elizabeth Corbitt, Daniel Cossa, David Evers, Hans Friedli, David Krabbenhoft, Leonard Levin, Nicola Pirrone, Glenn Rice,
Impacts of Intercontinental Mercury Transport on Human & Ecological Health, in: Nicola Pirrone and Terry Keating, Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution 2010. PART B: Mercury, Air Pollution Studies No. 18, United Nations, New York and Geneva, 2010.
ISBN 978-92-1-117044-3 Ray B. Voegborlo, Akito Matsuyama, Anthony A. Adimado, Hirokatsu Akagi,Head Hair
Total Mercury and Methylmercury Levels in Ghanaian Individuals for the Estimation of Their Exposure to Mercury: Preliminary Studies, Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 84 (2010) 34–38.
DOI: 10.1007/s00128-009-9901-7 Homira Agah, Martine Leermakers, Yue Gao, S.M.R. Fatemi, M. Mohseni Katal, Willy Baeyens, Marc Elskens,
Mercury accumulation in fish species from the Persian Gulf and in human hair from fishermen, Environ. Monit. Assess., 169 (2010) 203–216.
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-009-1162-8 Leonardo Trasande, Juanita E. Cortes, Philip J. Landrigan, Mary I. Abercrombie, Richard F. Bopp, Enrique Cifuentes,
Methylmercury exposure in a subsistence fishing community in Lake Chapala, Mexico: an ecological approach, Environ. Health, 9 (2010) 1.
doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-9-1 Steven C. Patch, Ann Marie Traylor, Diane Morgan,
Mercury in Human Hair and Associations with Fish Consumption and other Potential Sources, Technical Report # 09-196, Environmental Quality Institute, 2010
Eunice Marcano, Mary Labady, Clara Gomes, Guillermina Aguiar, Jorge Laine,
High levels of Mercury and Lead detected by hair analysis in two Venezuelan environments, Acta Amazon., 39/2 (2009) 315 - 318.
doi: 10.1590/S0044-59672009000200010 Ping Li, Xinbin Feng, Guangle Qiu, Lihai Shang, Guanghui Li,
Human hair mercury levels in the Wanshan mercury mining area, Guizhou Province, China, Environ. Geochem. Health, 31 (2009) 683–691.
DOI 10.1007/s10653-008-9246-x Flavia L Barbieri, Jacques Gardon,
Hair mercury levels in Amazonian populations: spatial distribution and trends, Inter. J. Health Geographics, 8 (2009) 71.
doi: 10.1186/1476-072X-8-71 Mája Cejchanová, Vera Spevácková, Karel Kratzer, Katerina Wranová, Václav Spevácek, Bohuslav Beneš,
Determination of Mercury and Methylmercury in Hair of the Czech Children’s Population, Biol. Trace Elem. Res., 121 (2008) 97–105.
DOI: 10.1007/s12011-007-8034-2 Hecham Elhamri, Larbi Idrissi, Marina Coquery, Sabine Azemard, Abdellah Elabidi, Mohamed Benlemlih, Mohamed Saghi, Francesco Cubadda,
Hair mercury levels in relation to fish consumption in a community of the Moroccan Mediterranean coast, Food Add. Contam., 24/11 (2007)1236-1246.
doi: 10.1080/02652030701329611 René Canuel, Sylvie Boucher de Grosbois, Laura Atikessé, Marc Lucotte, Paul Arp, Charles Ritchie, Donna Mergler, Hing Man Chan, Marc Amyot, Robin Anderson,
New Evidence on Variations of Human Body Burden of Methylmercury from Fish Consumption, Environ. Health Perspect., 114/2 (2006) 302–306.
doi: 10.1289/ehp.7857 Cecilia Johnsson, Gerd Sällsten, Andrejs Schütz, Anna Sjörs, Lars Barregard,
Hair mercury levels versus freshwater fish consumption in household members of Swedish angling societies, Environ. Res., 96 (2004) 257–263.
doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2004.01.005 A.A. Adimado, D.A. Baah,
Mercury in Human Blood, Urine, Hair, Nail, and Fish from the Ankobra and Tano River Basins in Southwestern Ghana, Bull. Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 68 (2002) 339–346.
DOI: 10.1007/s00128-001-0259-8
Related EVISA Resources Link database: Mercury exposure through the diet Link database: Environmental cycling of mercury Link database: Toxicity of Organo-mercury compounds Link database: Research projects related to organo-mercury compounds
Related EVISA News
December 9, 2012: Mercury in fish more dangerous than previously
believed; Scientists urge for effective treaty ahead of UN talks October 12, 2012: Prenatal mercury intake linked to ADHD
July 31, 2012: FDA Lands in Court Over Mercury in Fish June 17, 2012: Factors Affecting Methylmercury Accumulation in the Food Chain March 1, 2012: High levels of mercury in newborns likely from mothers eating contaminated fish October 15, 2011: Mercury pollution in the Great Lakes region -- nearly forgotten, but not gone August 16, 2010: Methylmercury: What have we learned from Minamata Bay? August 21, 2009: USGS Study Reveals Mercury Contamination in Fish Nationwide May 3, 2009: Ocean mercury on the rise February 11, 2009: Mercury in Fish is a Global Health Concern October 30, 2008: Precautionary approach to methylmercury needed
March 11, 2007: Methylmercury contamination of fish warrants worldwide public warning October 9, 2006: Linking atmospheric mercury to methylmercury in fish August 16, 2006: Mercury pollution threatens health worldwide, scientists say June 8, 2006: Methylmercury in fish: Can you cook it out ? February 17, 2006: Study shows link between clear lakes and methylmercury contamination in fish
February 9, 2006: Study show high levels of mercury in women related to fish consumption August 29, 2005: Is methyl mercury limiting the delight of
seafood ? - To answer this question is a challenge for elemental
speciation analysis January 12, 2005: Number of fish meals is a good predictor for the mercury found in hair of environmental journalists April 27, 2004: New kind of mercury found in fish April 27, 2004: FDA/EPA recommends pregnant women to restrict their fish consumption because of methylmercury contentlast time modified: January 14, 2013
