Compound-Specific Stable Isotope Analysis Provides New Insights for Tracking Human Monomethylmercury Exposure Sources

Monomethylmercury (MMHg) exposure can induce adverse neurodevelopmental effects in humans and is a global environmental health concern. Human exposure to MMHg occurs predominately through the consumption of fishery foods and rice in Asia, but it is challenging to quantify these two exposure sources. Here, we innovatively utilized MMHg compound-specific stable isotope analyses (MMHg-CSIA) of the hair to quantify the human MMHg sources in coastal and inland areas, where fishery foods and rice are routinely consumed. Our data showed that the fishery foods and rice end members had distinct Δ199HgMMHg values in both coastal and inland areas. The Δ199HgMMHg values of the human hair were comparable to those of fishery foods but not those of rice. Positive shifts in the δ202HgMMHg values of the hair from diet were observed in the study areas. Additionally, significant differences in δ202Hg versus Δ199Hg were detected between MMHg and inorganic Hg (IHg) in the human hair but not in fishery foods and rice. A binary mixing model was developed to estimate the human MMHg exposures from fishery foods and rice using Δ199HgMMHg data. The model results suggested that human MMHg exposures were dominated (>80%) by fishery food consumption and were less affected by rice consumption in both the coastal and inland areas. This study demonstrated that the MMHg-CSIA method can provide unique information for tracking human MMHg exposure sources by excluding the deviations from dietary surveys, individual MMHg absorption/demethylation efficiencies, and the confounding effects of IHg.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2021

Erschienen:

2021

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:55

Enthalten in:

Environmental science & technology - 55(2021), 18 vom: 21. Sept., Seite 12493-12503

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Yang, Shaochen [VerfasserIn]
Wang, Bo [VerfasserIn]
Qin, Chongyang [VerfasserIn]
Yin, Runsheng [VerfasserIn]
Li, Ping [VerfasserIn]
Liu, Jinling [VerfasserIn]
Point, David [VerfasserIn]
Maurice, Laurence [VerfasserIn]
Sonke, Jeroen E [VerfasserIn]
Zhang, Leiming [VerfasserIn]
Feng, Xinbin [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

FXS1BY2PGL
Fishery food
Human hair
Isotope
Isotopes
Journal Article
Mercury
Methylmercury Compounds
Monomethylmercury
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Rice

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 01.10.2021

Date Revised 01.10.2021

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1021/acs.est.1c01771

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM330107615