A Small Dose of Hg

An Introduction To The
Health Effects & Risk of
Mercury Exposure
ENV H 472 A - ENVIRONMENTAL RISK
AND SOCIETY
Class 4

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Child Health

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Key Words of Toxicology

Dose / Response

Hazard + Exposure = Risk

Individual Susceptibility
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 Mercury the Metal

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Methyl Mercury (MeHg)

Hg
CH3
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 Hg - Inorganic & Organic

Hg
Inorganic Quick Silver

Hg CH3
Organic Methyl Mercury

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Hg Facts & Uses

Quicksilver
13.6 times the weight of water
Evaporates at room temperature
Bacteria change to Methylmercury
Amalgam
Many Industrial uses
(thermometers, chemical reactions,
gold mining)

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Hg Like Water

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Hg Solid Enough to Sit On

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Ancient Awareness

Alchemy
Medicine - cure syphilis?
Egyptian tomb -1500 BC

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Greek God Mercury

For then she bare a son, of many

shifts, blandly cunning, a robber, a
cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a
watcher by night, a thief at the gates,
one who was soon to show forth
wonderful deeds among the deathless
gods...
Description of the birth of the
Greek God Mercury

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Historical Events

Occupational Exposure
Gold mining.
Hatters in the felt industry.

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Historical Awareness

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Discharge in Minamata Bay

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

Polluting with HG
 Fetal Effects of MeHg

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Life-Long Effects of MeHg

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Planting Seed with Mercury

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Iraq Mothers with Bread

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

Iraq Infant - Effects of Mercury

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

Coal Fired Plants Hg Emissions

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Outbreaks of MeHg Poisoning
Place Year Cases
Minamata 1953-60 1000
Nigata 1964-65 646
Guatemala 1963-65 45
Ghana 1967 144
Pakistan 1969 100
Iraq 1956 100
Iraq 1960 1,002
Iraq 1971 40,000
On-going 2001 ???
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 Mercury to Methyl Mercury

Inorganic - elemental mercury

vapor Hg0

Biotransformation
Organic - Methylmercury - CH3Hg+
Bioaccumulatio
n
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 Mercury Release

50-75% mercury of
released in the
environment related
to human activities

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Atmospheric Hg

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Biotransformation of Mercury
Inorganic Discharge
Mercury
Ambient Water
Biomethylation Sediments

Methyl- Bioaccumulation
Mercury
Edible Fish

Methyl-Mercury Exposure
In Humans
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
Environmental Sources of Mercury

Natural Degassing of the earth

Combustion of fossil fuel
Industrial Discharges and Wastes
Incineration & Crematories
Dental amalgams

Hg0 Hg2+ CH3Hg+

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 The Mercury Cycle

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Neurobehavioral Effects

Blindness - Deafness
Cerebral Palsy - Seizures
Abnormal reflexes & muscle tone
Retarded motor development
Visual and Auditory Deficits
Delayed motor development
Altered DRH performance

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Effects On The Brain

Decrease in Brain Size

Cell loss
Disorganization of cells
Cell migration failures

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Uncertainty

How do you know?

How good is the data?

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Use of Uncertainty Factors

Divide Dose by Power of 10

Human variability
Interspecies extrapolation
Children
Subchronic to chronic extrapolation
Absence of a NOAEL
Database uncertainty

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Use of Uncertainty Factors
Animal Dose Response Data
NOAEL (No Observed Adverse Effect Level)

Divide by 10
(Account for inadequate animal data)

Divide by 10
(Animal to Human Extrapolation)

Divide by 10
(Human Variability or Individual Sensitivity)

Reference Dose (RfD) Or Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI)

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 Reducing Uncertainty

Upstanding mechanism of action

Physiologically based
pharmacokinetic models
(distribution and metabolism)
Sample size

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Animal - Risk Assessment

MONKEY - 25 g/kg - LOAEL

RAT - 10 g/kg - LOAEL
RAT - 50 g/kg - replicated

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Animal - Risk Assessment

2.5 g/kg - NOAEL (animals)

0.25 g/kg - Human
0.025 g/kg - Sensitive populations

(the rule of dividing by 10)

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Human - Risk Assessment

10-20 ppm hair - LOAEL

40-80 ppb blood - LOAEL
0.645 g/kg
0.06 g/kg - RfD

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Mercury Fishing Advisories

In 2000, 41 States have over 2000

fish consumption advisories
An increase form 27 in 1993
Pregnant women, nursing
mothers, women who intend
to have children, and children
under 15

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Recommendations

Reduce environmental release

Restrict global production and sale
Advise women of child bearing age
Research mechanisms of action
Assess neurodegenerative effects

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 MeHg Consumption Limits

US EPA 0.1 ug/kg-day

US FDA 1 ppm (mg/kg)

in tuna

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 WA State Advisory

Limit the amount of canned tuna you

eat, based on your bodyweight.
Guidelines are: Women of childbearing age should limit the amount
of canned tuna they eat to about one can per week (six ounces.) A
woman who weighs less than 135 pounds should eat less than one
can of tuna per week. Children under six should eat less than one
half a can of tuna (three ounces) per week. Specific weekly limits for
children under six range from one ounce for a twenty pound child,
to three ounces for a child weighing about sixty pounds.

http://www.doh.wa.gov/fish/FishAdvMercury.htm
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 WA State Hg CAP

WA State Mercury Chemical Action Plan

Reduce Hg in fish
Reduce Hg release into the environment
4-5 tons of Hg released in WA
Educating consumers about Hg in home

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0303001.html

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/eap/pbt/mercuryplan.html

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Hg CAP and Trade

U.S. EPA Produced

First-Ever Rule to Reduce Mercury
Emissions from Power Plants
Last 15 years no drop in Hg emissions
from power plants
Is Cap and Trade appropriate for a
demonstrated neurotoxic compound?

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Mercury A Global Issue

Mercury distribution
and exposure is a global
problem

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Precautionary Principle

"When an activity raises threats of

harm to the environment or human
health, precautionary measures
should be taken even if some cause
and effect relationships are not fully
established scientifically."

- Wingspread Statement on the

Precautionary Principle, Jan. 1998

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Alices Adventures

Everythings got a moral, if

you can only find it

Lewis Carroll in Alices

Adventures in Wonderland

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Knowledge - Responsibility

Children have a right to a safe, fair

and healthy environment
Ethical Responsibility to share
and use of knowledge
Duty to promote health and well
being of children
Thoughtful public health advocate
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 Mercury or Lead

Questions or Comments?

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury

 Additional Information - Hg
Web Sites
World Health Organization - global
prospective on mercury health effects.
http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/
GDWQ/Chemicals/mercuryfull.htm
US EPA - Main site on Mercury.
http://www.epa.gov/mercury/
The Mercury Policy Project (MPP). - works to
raise awareness about the threat of mercury
contamination -
http://www.mercurypolicy.org/
www.asmalldoseof.org
A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury
 Authorship Information

This presentation is supplement to

A Small Dose of Toxicology

For Additional Information Contact

Steven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT
E-mail: smdose@asmalldoseof.org
Web: www.asmalldoseof.org

A Small Dose of Toxicology Small Dose of Mercury