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Mercury Exposure Of Children From Three Populations Of The Brazilian Amazon

2015; National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences; Volume: 2015; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1289/isee.2015.2015-3486

2169-2181

Iracina Maura de Jesus, Elisabeth Conceição de Oliveira Santos, Kleber Raimundo Freitas Faial, Marcelo de Oliveira Lima, Jamile Salim Marinho, Hirokatsu Akagi, Volney de Magalhães Câmara,

Indigenous Health and Education

Environmental health of children in Brazil is a topic that needs more attention from public health programs. In the Amazon, children's exposure to mercury still needs to be documented with specificity in several areas, since reports have approached more often the adult population. This study was conducted in three population groups of children, two residents in riverside areas and a third resident in a gold mining area for benchmarking the exposure profile of children 1-12 years old in each group. We carried out an epidemiological survey and collected biological material for total mercury analysis (THg) by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry- CVAAS. The average THg levels in hair of riverside communities were 2.79 ± 2.77 µg/g in Manoel Urbano (Acre state) and 8.34 ± 6.81 µg/g in Caxiuanã (Pará State) and in gold mining area group (Crepori) was 1.37 ± 1.26 µg/g. Available data for THg in blood showed an average of 10.25 ± 15.83 µg/l in Manoel Urbano and 13.72 ± 15.78 µg/l in Crepori. In the latter group, mercury level in urine was 2.63 ± 2.60 µg/l . In children of eastern and western Amazon mercury exposure is variable but even in areas not involved in gold mining as Manoel Urbano these levels, especially in blood, can approach those seen in impacted areas. Public health policies should consider the different exposure conditions for the establishment of preventive programs to protect the health of children.