Trends in mercury concentrations in the hair of women of Nome, Alaska - Evidence of seafood consumption or abiotic absorption
- Battelle/Marine Sciences Lab., Sequim, WA (United States)
Eighty samples of hair from women of child-bearing age from Nome, Alaska, and seven control samples from women living in Sequim, Washington, were analyzed for mercury concentration by segmental analysis in an effort to determine whether seasonal fluctuations in mercury concentration in the hair samples can be correlated to seasonal seafood consumption. Full-length hair strands were analyzed in 1.1-cm segments representing 1 month's growth using a strong acid digestion and cold vapor atomic fluorescence analysis. It was assumed that the concentration of mercury in each segment is an indicator of the mercury body burden during the month in which the segment emerged from the scalp. Eighteen of the samples show seasonal variability, with five of the controls and one Nome resident showing winter highs while all Nome residents show summer highs. Twenty-six of the samples show an increase in mercury concentration toward the distal end of the strand regardless of month of growth. The trend of increasing mercury concentrations toward the distal end of the hair strand regardless of month of emergence, and the documented presence of elevated levels of elemental mercury in the Nome area suggest that these elevated levels may actually be due to external contamination of the hair strands by adsorption and not due to ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs such as seafood.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC06-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 7159305
- Report Number(s):
- PNL-SA-20189; CONF-9205230-1; ON: DE92019081
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Mercury as a global pollutant: toward integration and synthesis, Monterey, CA (United States), 31 May - 4 Jun 1992
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
MERCURY
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ALASKA
DIET
HAIR
MAN
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
WOMEN
ANIMALS
BODY
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ELEMENTS
FEMALES
MAMMALS
METALS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANS
PRIMATES
SKIN
USA
VARIATIONS
VERTEBRATES
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology