Pubblicazione scientifica

Mercury Hair Concentration among Primary School Children in Malaysia

FILONE TECNOLOGICO	TEMA
produzione e cattura
trasformazione e commercializzazione

RIASSUNTO

The main concern regarding mercury exposure is the adverse health effect on the developing nervous system. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to determine hair mercury levels and their association with socio-demographic characteristics, complaints about mercury poisoning symptoms and the fish consumption pattern among children in Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 215 school children aged 11 years old. Hair was collected from the children and the total mercury was analyzed using oxygen combustion–gold amalgamation atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Anthropometric data, a fish consumption questionnaire and mercury poisoning symptoms were collected during a personal interview. The mean hair mercury level among primary school children was 0.63 ± 0.59 µg/g with the geometric mean of 0.47 µg/g. A total of 14% of respondents had hair mercury levels above 1 µg/g. A multiple binary logistic regression analysis outlined that fish consumption of at least one meal per week increased the likelihood of having a high mercury level (odds ratio (OR) 3.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3–10.4). This study confirms the existence of a mercury burden among Malaysian children and the level is high compared to other regional studies. This study provides important baseline data regarding the mercury level among children in Malaysia.

DATA

Data di pubblicazione: 14/12/2017

AUTORI

ABDUL SAMAD NURUL IZZAH
MD ISA ZALEHA
HOD ROZITA

ENTE DI AFFERENZA

DEPT COMMUNITY HEALTH FACULTY OF MEDICINE UNIV KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA MEDICAL CTR UKMMC JALAN YAACOB LATIF BANDAR TUN RAZAK CHERAS 56000 KUALA LUMPUR MALAYSIA ZMS PPUKM UKM EDU MY ZMI ROZITA HOD PPUKM UKM EDU MY RH
ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH PROGRAM SCHOOL OF HEALTH SCIENCES HEALTH CAMPUS UNIV SAINS MALAYSIA 16150 KUBANG KERIAN KELANTAN MALAYSIA

RIVISTA

Children, 4(12), 109

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