Impact of Maternal Seafood Diet on Fetal Exposure to Mercury, Selenium, and Lead

The Scientific Paper:

P. Grandjean, P. Weihe, P. J. Jorgensen, T. Clarkson, E. Cernichiari, and T. Videro. Archives of Environmental Health. (AEH) Vol. 47 (No. 3) pp 185 – 195. 1992.

Review This Scientific Paper’s Abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=
PubMed&list_uids=1596101&dopt=Abstract

The Purpose of this Study:
This paper describes the relationships of mercury, selenium, and lead exposures to eating seafood.

Some Background, Methods, Results, Caveats, and Other Select Points:

• This peer-reviewed, scientific paper was published in 1992.
• These scientists report on the umbilical cord blood, mercury levels from about 1,000 births in the Faroes Islands methylmercury study. The methylmercury levels in the mothers’ hair were also determined.
• Selenium was included in this study because selenium may counteract some of the bad effects of methylmercury in people.
• Lead was also studied here because it too may cause bad effects in unborn children.
• Frequently eating whale meat dinners during pregnancy (and to a much lesser degree, frequently eating fish during pregnancy) - plus increased parity or age were all associated with high methylmercury concentrations in both umbilical cord blood and the mothers’ hair.
• Parity is the total number of children a woman has given birth to.
• The umbilical cord blood, methylmercury levels were a little lower if the mother had occasionally drank some alcoholic beverages while pregnant.
• The umbilical cord blood, methylmercury levels varied about the same as the umbilical cord blood, selenium levels.
• The higher, umbilical cord blood, selenium levels were associated with the mothers who:
  1. Ate pilot whale meat;
  2. Did not drink alcoholic beverages
  3. Delivered a full term child; and
  4. Had delivered more than one child in their lifetime

• Umbilical cord blood, methylmercury levels were low in these Faroe Islands children. Low, umbilical cord blood, lead levels were especially found if the mothers oftentimes ate fish for dinner and did not smoke tobacco during their pregnancy.

• An important question remains if whether high, umbilical cord blood, methylmercury levels cause any harm to the unborn child. There are no true, mercury poisoning cases in fish-eating people who live far from industrial pollution sources.

• Certain scientific studies of children from fishing communities where people essentially live on fish have reported some minor nervous system abnormalities that may somehow be caused by increased methylmercury exposure.

A Bottom Line:
Finding very high, umbilical cord blood, methylmercury levels in people who are Faroe Islands methylmercury test subjects is not a concern.

Find This Scientific Paper for Your Review:
Impact of Maternal Seafood Diet on Fetal Exposure to Mercury, Selenium, and Lead. Archives of Environmental Health. (AEH) Vol. 47 (No. 3) pp 185 – 195. 1992.