Reducing uncertainty in risk modeling for methylmercury exposure

Conference · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995

OSTI ID:218413

Ponce, R; Egeland, G; Middaugh, J ^[1]; Lee, R ^[2]

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1. Dept. of Health and Social Services, Anchorage, AK (United States). Section of Epidemiology
2. Univ. of Washington, Seattle, WA (United States)

The biomagnification and bioaccumulation of methylmercury in marine species represents a challenge for risk assessment related to the consumption of subsistence foods in Alaska. Because of the profound impact that food consumption advisories have on indigenous peoples seeking to preserve a way of life, there is a need to reduce uncertainty in risk assessment. Thus, research was initiated to reduce the uncertainty in assessing the health risks associated with the consumption of subsistence foods. Because marine subsistence foods typically contain elevated levels of methylmercury, preliminary research efforts have focused on methylmercury as the principal chemical of concern. Of particular interest are the antagonistic effects of selenium on methylmercury toxicity. Because of this antagonism, methylmercury exposure through the consumption of marine mammal meat (with high selenium) may not be as toxic as comparable exposures through other sources of dietary intake, such as in the contaminated bread episode of Iraq (containing relatively low selenium). This hypothesis is supported by animal experiments showing reduced toxicity of methylmercury associated with marine mammal meat, by the antagonistic influence of selenium on methylmercury toxicity, and by negative clinical findings in adult populations exposed to methylmercury through a marine diet not subject to industrial contamination. Exploratory model development is underway to identify potential improvements and applications of current deterministic and probabilistic models, particularly by incorporating selenium as an antagonist in risk modeling methods.

• OSTI ID: 218413
• Report Number(s): CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
56 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
APPLIED STUDIES
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
DATA COVARIANCES
FOOD CHAINS
METHYLMERCURY
POLLUTION
RISK ASSESSMENT
SELENIUM
TOXICITY
WATER POLLUTION