Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Seychellois Children Sixty-six Months after in utero Exposure to Methylmercury from a Maternal Fish Diet: Pilot Study

The Scientific Paper:

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Seychellois Children Sixty-six Months after in utero Exposure to Methylmercury from a Maternal Fish Diet: Pilot Study. Gary J. Myers, Philip W. Davidson, Christopher Cox, Conrad F. Shamlaye, Martin A. Tanner, Octave Choisy, Jean Sloane-Reeves, David O. Marsh, Elsa Cernichiari, Anna Choi, Mathis Berlin, and Thomas W. Clarkson NeuroToxicology Vol. 16, No. 4, pp.639-652. 1995.

Review This Scientific Paper’s Abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=
PubMed&list_uids=8714869&dopt=Abstract

The Purpose of this Study:
To learn if exposure in the womb to low levels of methylmercury because the mother eats a lot of certain types of fish is related to the child’s developmental outcome.

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

• This peer-reviewed, scientific paper was published in 1995.
  
• These scientists reevaluated 217 children at 66 months old from an earlier initial study. They looked for any associations between mercury levels in the mothers hair and the children’s neurodevelopmental outcome
  
• These scientists remind us that these study results should be viewed as preliminary and interpreted with caution because the Seychelles Child Development Study (SCDS) main study 66-month evaluations – which are better controlled with more and better details than this smaller, initial study – were still being analyzed in 1995.

A Bottom Line:

• After the extreme methylmercury and/or developmental values were eliminated from this study, the methylmercury effects were no longer significant except for some hearing issues, which remained only somewhat significant.
  
• Even after completing this additional study, these scientists believe that it is still unclear if there are bad developmental effects from methylmercury exposure in the womb because the mother eats a lot of certain types of fish.
  
• This study once again highlights the difficulties in interpreting epidemiologic studies of this type – and the degree to which overall results in certain kinds of scientific studies can be unduly influenced by the very small number of people participating in a study.
  

Find This Scientific Paper for Your Review:
Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Seychellois Children Sixty-six Months after in utero Exposure to Methylmercury from a Maternal Fish Diet: Pilot Study. NeuroToxicology Vol. 16, No. 4, pp.639-652. 1995.